--- title: French Hitchhiker in NZ Loses Cool After Failing to Get Ride description: The man allegedly wrecked signs and abused drivers in the town of Panakaiki last week, after failing to catch a ride for 4 straight days. canonical: https://time.com/4500847/french-tourist-hitchhiker-new-zealand-no-ride/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-20T07:47:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:36:44.528Z og:title: French Hitchhiker in NZ Loses Cool After Failing to Get Ride og:description: He allegedly went crazy at drivers after failing to get a ride for four days. og:url: https://time.com/4500847/french-tourist-hitchhiker-new-zealand-no-ride/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c187afc6a390de8/6988a6caa988ca1d026b97ae/gettyimages-475149963.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5600 og:image:height: 3150 og:image:alt: Pancake rocks Punakaiki, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: French Hitchhiker in NZ Loses Cool After Failing to Get Ride twitter:description: He allegedly went crazy at drivers after failing to get a ride for four days. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c187afc6a390de8/6988a6caa988ca1d026b97ae/gettyimages-475149963.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A French Hitchhiker in New Zealand Totally Lost His Cool After Not Getting a Ride for Four Days > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Sep 20, 2016 7:47 AM UTC  Located on New Zealand's West Coast, Punakaiki is best known for its Pancake Rocks. Located on New Zealand's West Coast, Punakaiki is best known for its Pancake Rocks. Marco Simoni—Getty Images/Cultura RF by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Sep 20, 2016 7:47 AM UTC A 27-year-old French tourist allegedly went crazy in the small New Zealand fishing town of Punakaiki last week, after he tried unsuccessfully for four days to get a lift. The traveler is accused of wrecking road signs and hurling abuse at passing drivers, reports the [_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/20/french-hitchhiker-goes-beserk-new-zealand-four-days-stuck-without-a-lift). According to police, he had been hitchhiking his way around the country for sometime before he was left without a ride for four straight days in Punakaiki — a town that is home to just 70 year-round residents. Neil Mouat, a local who called the police, told _Guardian_ reporters the man “threw an absolute hissy fit” before trading barbs with an elderly fisherman. “He was a spoilt millennial, and he created a hell of a din,” Mouat added. “But all that time he was standing in the wrong place to hitchhike – a corner with poor visibility and nowhere for cars to easily pull over.” The _Guardian_ reports that the tourist is currently on bail, having been charged with willful damage and had his passport confiscated. There is no word yet on whether he will try to hitchhike to his court hearing. \[[_Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/20/french-hitchhiker-goes-beserk-new-zealand-four-days-stuck-without-a-lift)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4500847/french-tourist-hitchhiker-new-zealand-no-ride/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4500847/french-tourist-hitchhiker-new-zealand-no-ride/"},"headline":"A French Hitchhiker in New Zealand Totally Lost His Cool After Not Getting a Ride for Four Days","datePublished":"2016-09-20T07:47:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:36:44.528Z","description":"\"He created a hell of a din,\" one local said","url":"https://time.com/4500847/french-tourist-hitchhiker-new-zealand-no-ride/","keywords":["Newsfeed","World","New Zealand"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c187afc6a390de8/6988a6caa988ca1d026b97ae/gettyimages-475149963.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9c187afc6a390de8/6988a6caa988ca1d026b97ae/gettyimages-475149963.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Pancake rocks Punakaiki, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand","caption":"Pancake Rocks, Punakaiki, West Coast, South Island, New Zealand","creditText":"Marco Simoni—Getty Images/Cultura RF","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4500847/french-tourist-hitchhiker-new-zealand-no-ride/","name":"A French Hitchhiker in New Zealand Totally Lost His Cool After Not Getting a Ride for Four Days"}}]}] ```