12 day itinenary for North Island - Please comment
 

Hi All,

My husband and I are going to New Zealand for 12 days, beginning October 31. We want to focus our trip on North Island this time, having visited the South Island for 2 weeks back in March 2000.

I plan on following the driving route suggested by www.purenz.com. Please take a look and feel free to comment on whether we should spend an extra day at a certain region, or we should skip a region all together. Thank you.

31-Oct Arrive in Auckland
1-Nov Check out Auckland (we are thinking of immigrating there)
2-Nov Auckland - Thames - Coromandel - Whitianga
3-Nov Whitianga - Whangamata - Tauranga
4-Nov Tauranga - Rotorua
5-Nov Rotorua - Whakatane - Opotiki - Gisborne
6-Nov Gisborne - Napier
7-Nov Napier - Hastings - Masterton - Wellington
8-Nov Wellington - Wanganui
9-Nov Wanganui - New Plymouth
10-Nov New Plymouth - Waitomo Caves
11-Nov Waitomo Caves - Hamilton - Auckland
12-Nov Flying back to LA

You are overly ambitious. I just returned from 3 months in New Zealand and I want to warn you about the roads. Once you are 10 miles out of Auckland or Wellington, the highway changes to a 2 lane, slow, windy road wherever you are. You'll be amazed! You won't average better than 50 MPH and will tire quickly from the stressful (and beautiful) drives. Don't plan on more than 300 km (180 miles) per day. And give yourself another day in Auckland and I would skip Gisborne.
Have fun!

Thank you golfer55. This itinerary was suggested by www.purenz.com. Here's the link to the itinerary: http://www.purenz.com/index.cfm/pure...AC9CA1664.html

With the exception of Day 6, Napier to Wellington (at 334 km), none of the other drives exceed 300km.

I will read more about Gisborne to see if I can combine that with another destination.

Thank you for your comments.

Hi there,

This itinerary is a pretty good tour of the Nth Island but as golfer55 has already stated ... very ambitious.

You have no non-driving days with which to spend sight seeing etc.

Even though I love the Gisborne region (I holiday there every summer and its glorious ) it could easily be dropped from your plans.

31- Arrive Auckland
1- Auckland
2- Explore Coromandel ( overnight)
3- Coromandel - Rotorua (overnight)
4- Rotorua
5-Rotorua - Taupo -Napier
6- Napier
7- Napier - Wellington
8- Wellington
9- Wellington - New Plymouth
10- New Plymouth - Waitomo Caves
11- Auckland
12 - home.

This route still gives you a good road tour of the country with some rest days to use for activities or sightseeing as well.

Hopefully you will return to explore the Gisborne /East Cape region another time . The best time for this area is Jan/ Feb when the weather is hot and you can enjoy the fabulous beaches and hot days.

Have fun ~
Christa

Thank you Christa. I'll probaby drop Gisborne then and drive from Rotorua to Napier.

Is Napier fun to visit during November?

Napier is known for it's Art Deco architecture.

It was hit by a bad earthquake and was rebuilt in the Deco era. It is one of the only cities in the world with such a large number of Deco buildings.

There are quite a few activities based on the Deco theme or you could visit the wineries, visit Cape Kidnappers gannet colony, walk the beaches, visit the aquarium / marineland.

Check out www.napiernz.com

An alternate route for you if you don't go the Napier way is to go via the Desert Road ( highway 1)

You can take time to explore the National Park region, visit Mount Ruapehu ... a night at the Chateau Hotel might be nice.

Have fun planning,

oops, wrong web address. :(

try www.hawkesbay.co.nz

or www.napier.govt.nz/

So Christa, if I live in Miami will I be missing a whole lot if I don't get to Napier.

Not much point in going at all I reckon, you would probably enjoy the mountain route better.

Not that I have ever been to Miami but I sure would love to get over your way one day.

I dream of doing a road trip from New York to Florida ending at Key West at sunset ...

Wouldn't want to piggy back on this thread to talk about Miami but would be glad to reciprocate and give tips - sunset in Key West is a blast. Anyway, back to the original subject, I have the same 'dilemma' except that I only have 4 days for the North Island so I am thinking of AKL-Rotorua-Taupo-Tongariro and back.

That sounds like a great use of your four days.
I would most definitely not bother with Napier considering your itinerary.
I absolutely love Taupo, it is a small town but totally geared up to cope with the thousands of visitors who arrive for a bit of fun.

Have fun and enjoy the scenery !!!

Feel free to talk about Miami or other topics here. Thanks Christa for the advise and links. I think you should come visit California if you have a chance. It's quite spectacular, but not in the same way as New Zealand.

Hi dc120,

I visited California in 2000 and did a roadtrip through the southwest region ( Arizona, Utah, Nevada etc)

Absolutely loved it and California was a real treat ... Yosemite N/P, San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Big Sur ... just fantaastic.

I hope you have as much fun here as we had over there .

:)
Christa

Considering that I live in a mile from the beach in Santa Monica, do you think that I should put Taupo on my itinerary? Thanks.

Taupo is a lovely stopover town. There is a fair bit of fun and adventure to be had here.
I really enjoyed the Huka Jet and my better half did the Bungy Jump (gulp).
You could explore National Park from here as well.
Or you could take a relaxing lake cruise, fishing trip etc.

The lake setting is gorgeous, plenty of accom. and restaurants to choose from as well.

I think that this town is worth a visit if you are heading that way.

check out www.laketauponz.com