NZ North Island Itinerary Critique

Old Apr 11th, 2015, 04:55 AM
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NZ North Island Itinerary Critique

Following a 2 week tour of the South Island with Active Adventures (lots of hiking, some kayaking and biking), I'm planning a couple of more relaxing weeks on a self drive of the North Island in March 2016. Here's my preliminary itinerary -
3 nights Wellington
2 nights Napier (gannet colony unless Mid-March is too late to visit)
2 nights Tongariro Nat'l Park (hike T. Alpine Crossing)
3 nights Rotorua (visit Waitamo Caves on way to or from)
3 nights Auckland
3 nights Russell
Return car and fly home from Auckland
I'm interested in nature, all things Hobbit, Maori culture etc.
Does this sound like a good starting point?
Thanks for any advice!
IreneKD is offline  
Old Apr 11th, 2015, 12:29 PM
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I have a trip report here from 2004 (much too long ago! ). We spent 10 days on the North Island. You might be interested, since we hit a few Lord of the Rings-related sites and they're all still there. We went up to the ski area at Mt. Ruapehu (used for scenes in The Two Towers), Kaitoke Regional Park (Rivendell), Wellington (several sites in the LotR movies). The highlight was running into Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger from Weta Workshop when we were at Mt. Victoria looking for some of the Shire filming sites. He's a great tour guide!

We also visited Auckland and Rotorua - really enjoyed the concert and hangi at Te Puia.

Between Waitomo and Auckland, you can go to Matamata and visit the Hobbiton set. As you probably know, they were able to keep all the buildings up after they filmed The Hobbit, and it looks like a neat place to see.

Get a copy of Ian Brodie's The Lord of the Rings Location Guide, which has info on how to find all the filming sites. I see he has also done one for The Hobbit.

Lee Ann
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Old Apr 12th, 2015, 03:33 AM
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Thanks for the response Lee Ann! I actually did read your trip report in recent days as I was searching through the forum - very helpful! The Hobbiton set is definitely on my list and I expect it will be one of the highlights of my trip. I will definitely have to pick up those guides. Thanks again!
Irene
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Old Apr 13th, 2015, 01:17 AM
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Personally, I think you're trying to cover too much ground, especially if you're hoping to relax!

Russell is lovely but you could just head to the Coramandel beaches ( will still be warmish in March), or to be quieter still, Papamoa & Mount Maunganui. It's much further than it looks from Auckland to the Bay of Islands and whilst the scenery is beautiful, you'll lose a day driving up and back to Russell.

I wouldn't waste 3 nights in Auckland when there is so much else to see in the NI.

Waitomo Caves are expensive and touristy. There are plenty of places to see glowing worms in their natural habitat without going to Waitomo ( unless you're going rafting). If you do go westward I think it's worth stopping at Raglan to check out the black sand beaches.

In Rotorua, Mitai and Tamaki are both excellent places to see Maori culture. I like Tamaki best. You might also like Whakarewarewa village. It has a lovely, family atmosphere.
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Old Apr 18th, 2015, 09:11 AM
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We did a reverse direction trip over 5 days from Auckland to coromandel [one night], Napier [2 nights] and Wellington [1 night].

too fast!

looking at your itinerary, it's a long stretch from Wellington to Napier. If that's what you want to do, i would then stay for 3 nights in Napier, giving you 2 clear days - one for Napier and perhaps a wine-tasting or two [you can do a guided tour of the town, which is Art-deco and well worth exploring properly] and another day for the gannets - a highlight of our trip - and possibly some more wine tasting and/or a cycle ride.

You could then drive up to the Coromandel and spend at least 2 nights there, or go there from Rotorua.

Don't underestimate NZ driving times - we found the driving very tiring and ended up changing our itinerary half way round as we realised that despite the excellent advice we'd received here, we'd bitten off more than we could chew.
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Old Apr 21st, 2015, 03:45 AM
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Thanks for the responses! I will go back to the drawing board. I had pretty much decided to skip Auckland already since I prefer smaller 'quaint' towns to big cities.
Cheers
Irene
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Old Apr 28th, 2015, 06:00 PM
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1 night in Auckland is enough. We recently did a cruise around NZ, and the best places we visited on north island were Napier (very Art Deco town), did a day trip to Hobbiton (fantastic), 2-3 nights Wellington, must visit Weta Caves - production house for LOTR and the Hobbit and other movies. Can do a tour and see the real costumes. Has all 3 trolls outside the front (kids loved it). Rotorua always on the list. Coromandel Peninsular spectacular.

I have some pics of our cruise and what we saw in NZ which may help you decide where to go.
check it out : http://hansellajc.wix.com/hanselltra...f21933cd57f91a
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 02:05 AM
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Go from Napier to Taupo. You can book a Tongariro Crossing tour from Taupo which will pick you up at your motel. This is a long day as they pick you up about 5 am but better than driving to National Park. It's a 19 km hard walk plus the bus trip so maybe have a relaxing day in Taupo the next day. Then Rotorua and on the way to Auckland go to Hobbiton in Matamata. I would 100% recommend any visitor to Hobbiton if you are into LOTR. Leave out Waitomo.
From Matamata you can have a few days in the Coromandel area. Russell is out of the way and not worth a days driving to just to have one full day there.
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