His wife, who supplied the video to the Herald, said that she was told that numerous people were towing boats, jet skis and caravans.
"It's not a long weekend holiday," she said.
A Waka Kotahi NZTA spokesperson said there was more traffic than usual on Auckland state highways yesterday afternoon and on Tuesday evening there were queues at Johnstones Hill Tunnel heading north just past Waiwera.
There was also a steady flow of traffic leaving Wellington City until 10pm last night with congestion especially heavy heading northbound through Pukerua Bay and Paekākāriki due to the Stop/Go control operating following yesterday morning's slip and train derailment.
Traffic was much lighter around the country this morning compared to a usual weekday.
"Waka Kotahi reminds everyone that under Alert Level 4, only essential workers should be travelling outside of their immediate neighbourhoods," the spokesperson said.
"Those who are on the roads should follow all of the normal road rules and be assured that our contractors will still be carrying out essential safety or incident response-related maintenance to ensure that our state highways remain safe and resilient for those people who do need to travel."
What are the rules under Level 4?
NZ went into lockdown for three days from midnight last night, with Auckland and Coromandel expected to be in lockdown for seven days. The rest of the country will be locked down for at least three days.
Level four - dubbed the "eliminate" phase - means people must stay at home in their bubbles - travelling out only for essential personal movement.
Essential reasons for leaving the home briefly include:
• Exercise in your neighbourhood
• Visiting the supermarket, dairy or pharmacy
• Necessary medical care or getting a test
Level 4 measures
• People are instructed to stay at home in their bubble other than for essential personal movement
• Safe recreational activity is allowed in local area
• Travel is severely limited
• All gatherings are cancelled and all public venues are closed
• Businesses are closed except for essential services, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, clinics, petrol stations and lifeline utilities
• Educational facilities are closed
• Rationing of supplies and requisitioning of facilities is possible
• Reprioritisation of healthcare services
Meanwhile, on the Coromandel locals are working with police at a checkpoint, blocking traffic.
The checkpoint at Manaia was originally set up by residents to keep fleeing Aucklanders at bay.
Tensions were high last night when locals set up the roadblock after it was announced a Covid-19 positive Devonport man and his wife visited Coromandel town at the weekend.
Fortunately the 58-year-old was an avid contact tracer, which had allowed health officials to reel off about a dozen places of interest visited by the couple.
However, the visit immediately sparked concern, with residents annoyed at the number of Aucklanders - who own property on the peninsula - fleeing to the popular tourist spot.
Residents talked of "tempers escalating" as those wanting to get through were being forced to show proof that they lived on the peninsula, sparking a police call-out.
