North Island New Zealand 2 week driving itinerary

[Warks]

Good day all.

Am planning a two week driving trip around the north island of NZ in Sept-Oct school hols. All on points and will book a car. Two adults and two kids (12-13). I was looking at flying (from SYD) into Auckland and back from Wellington and am trying to work out the best route.

BC (before children) we did the same island flying in and out of AKL and we didn't get as far south as WLG. We plan on doing the south island on a separate trip rather than pay extortionate prices to be seasick crossing the Cook Strait so it's NI only. As a result we have a fair idea of what's there and what we saw last time that we'd want to see again.

North of AKL - the giant kauris, Bay of Islands, Waitangi.
South of AKL - Rotorua (pew!) Taupo, Napier, Waitomo, Tongariro area.

We did get to New Plymouth last time to view the might Mt Egmont (Taranaki) but may favour the east side instead maybe going up the Coromandel Peninsula and to Gisborne. One of the kids is a huge Lord of the Rings fan so Matamata and other sites are on the list.

Routes and suggested sights and accommodation are most welcome! I have about five free nights at Rydges to use and they have hotels in AKL, WLG and Rotorua.

Thanks in advance. I did some Google searches on this and only found seven day itineraries suggested plus an ancient posting on Trip Advisor. Surprisingly little found.

The other big question is whether it's worth flying back from WLG or AKL instead. Schedule is better for direct flights from WLG as they don't arrive in the evening in SYD.

 

[drron]

Hopefully in about 10- days I will get around to doing my TR of a week driving the North island.Wont have much kids stuff though.

 

[RB]

This was a site that I used when planning our driving trips. I can recommend Hot Water Beach on Coromandel Peninsula but be aware it can be bloody hot.

New Zealand 100% Pure | Official Travel information from Tourism New Zealand

 

[horseman]

gotta go to sheepworld! north of Auckland i think, and zorbing is great fun too. ive flown out of auckland many times with no issues, cant comment on wellyworld though

 

[munitalP]

The most beautiful parts of NZ are well off the beaten track. With 2 weeks, you have a lot of time to explore. I suggest you consider:

Cape Karikari (far north) hotels and camping
Cooks Beach - quite near hot water beach
Tarawera Falls and Tarawera Entrance, located by travelling through pine forest from Kawerau. Walk from the falls to the lake and back - breathtaking
Whakatane / Ohope Beach. Take a charter out to White Island and walk on an active volcano
Te Kaha - toward the East Cape - breathtaking scenery, amazing rivers and coastline, makes anything we have here pale in complexion
Carry on around east cape to Tologa (?) Bay - amazing sand cliffs and wave created sculptures - huge wharf that goes a long way out
Napier - wineries and the likes plus
Drive the Napier Taupo road at least once in your life
Taupo area, 1/2 way between taupo and Rotorua, Kerosene Creek, ask any local for directions, a stream that flows hot in the middle of nowhere - wow factor 10/10 (swim)
Rotorua - walk the redwoods tracks - beautiful
Ruapehau, climb to the crater - you will be able to take chair lifts most of the way
Waitomo Caves - a must see, but the best parts are "off the radar" type tours, black water rafting and the likes
Bulls - take a jet boat ride (or when in Whakatane, Kiwi Jetboat Tours, google them), this is a real river and not a fairy ride you will find elsewhere
Wellington - food and drink, theres too much to list

I would not leave from Wellington as the West coast offers a nice drive back to Auckland easily done in a day with some brilliant scenery.

 

[munitalP]

Oh and also, the War Museum at Waiouru - its a must do

 

[bigjobs]

Go to Northland. Stay at Matai Bay. That will do.

 

[BOZZ]

This was a site that I used when planning our driving trips. I can recommend Hot Water Beach on Coromandel Peninsula but be aware it can be bloody hot.

New Zealand 100% Pure | Official Travel information from Tourism New Zealand

+1 for Coromandel.

 

[tuapekastar]

The only thing I would add (and White Island as listed above is on my 'want' list) would be Driving Creek Railway just North of Coromandel town. A very nifty little 'home-grown' engineering feat, along with some good art and pottery.

 

[Major]

Definitely drive back to AKL via the west coast and Mt Egmont ( Taranaki ) great scenery. Also hire car repositioning fees can be a bit of a shock.

 

[Warks]

Wow. Thanks for all the responses. Have been offline since posting so no chance to comment until now.

Some great tips there, thanks. I had a fair idea of a few of these places having visited back in the old days but there's so much more of course.

Am leaning back to flying in and out of AKL as I can't seem to plot a course that doesn't zigzag back and forth across the island from AKL to WLG!

More to come...

 

[Warks]

Has anyone done any of the Lord of the Rings stuff? I know they do tours of Hobbiton but I don't know if it's worth it for the price. We've got a book of all the sites (and sights) relating to LOTR.
Welcome Hobbiton Movie Set Tours, LOTR, New Zealand

Enjoyable reading through all the info I collected on a quickfire trip to WLG last week!

 

[extracta]

If you are going to go to Rueapehu stay a night at The Chateau

Bayview Chateau Tongariro Luxury Accommodation