My significant other and I will have 3 days in Auckland and vicinity before boarding the Statendam for a cruise around NZ. I would love to see the glowworm caves and we can take that trip from the ship, but it is very, very pricey. Is it feasible to get to the glowworm caves and/or Rotorua from Auckland on a day trip? If so, how far is it. Can you recommend any tour companies.

Any information/suggestions will be very much appreciated.

Hi there

To do all in one day would be a real push as there would be a lot to see and do.

However you can go from Auckland to Rotorua via the Waitomo caves in one day.

http://www.greatsights.co.nz/luxury-...omo+Caves.aspx

This link has details of several tours. You could then stay in Rotorua overnight, experience a little of what Rotorua has to offer and then coach back to Auckland the next day.

As I live here I have little need for a coach company so I cannot attest to the quality of their trips. I do know however thhat they have been around for a while so they must be doing something right.

Not particularly cheap though. But they are inclusive of accomodation costs in Rotorua.

Check out the day trip to Waitomo. The cost is NZD 175 to 205 depending upon whether you have lunch or not. 30 bucks for lunch and in my opinion they should be laying on caviar.

You can bypass the need for buying lunch by just picking up a sandwich in Auckland before you leave. There is a convenience store in the base of the Ports of Auckland building at the end of the wharf you will be docked at. There are also cafes and lunch bars around the area.

The really convenient thing for you is that the tours leave from Quay street in Auckland, which is about 300 yards from the cruise liner terminal. An easy flat walk.

Hope some of this helps.

Steve

Thank you Steve for excellent information. I'm counting the days until we get to NZ

Yes, it is feasible to to see Waitomo caves and Rotorua in a day with a bus, and there are several local bus tours, which I imagine are cheaper than that from the ship.

For a discussion of this, see

<b>http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=3&amp;tid=34676261</b>

You could also 'google' <i>waitomo bus tours</i>.

You could stay in Rotorua for a night, but my feeling is that it would be more relaxing to stay in Auckland.

Gai gezunt!

To do it all in one day and return to Auckland is quite a long day, but can be done.

Also http://www.scenictours.co.nz/tours/north/tour-7r.asp

I don't know why they have to drag everyone to the Agrodome and Rainbow Springs, but they do.

It is a long day. Probably a 3 or 4 hour trip by coach (one way). But as everyone else says, it is possible. Just a long day!

I haven't been yet, but I can share the companies whose tours looked the most interesting to me:

Green World
www.nztours.co.nz/

New Zealand tours
www.newzealandtours.net.nz/auckland/rot01.html

www.freewheelingnz.com

Thank you everyone for your excellent suggestions. I'm reviewing them all and will make a decision soon. We are looking forward to seeing a lot of New Zealand -- it is something we've looked forward to for a long time.

Your assistance is of great value to us.

don't pass up the glowworm caves, that and white water rafting were the highlights of our trip

We did this in January. I wanted to see the Glow Worm caves, but our tour was not going to Rotorua. I found a great all day tour that leaves out of Auckland. It was a long day, but the trip was great. They served you morning tea and snack on the bus, lunch, and afternoon tea with a snack. They had pull down trays on the bus like an airplane and had a restroom on the bus for our convenience. We made quite a few stops, so it wasn’t bad at all. First we went to the Glow worm caves, then to the Maori Institute and Geo Termal area. We had a Maori guide who lead us through the Maori meeting house, showed us carvings and how they made their clothing and then to see boiling mudpools and geysers. Next to Rainbow Farm where we saw lots of trout, many kinds of birds and the kiwi bird. Then we went to The Agrodome where we hand fed sheep, deer, emu and cows. The animals were so tame that they came right up to you, because they knew you had the food. We saw another sheep shearing demonstration there. The company we booked through was Viator, but there are several different companies that do this tour. It was just too much stuff to miss out on. Good luck and have a great trip.

'but our tour was not going to Rotorua'

This is not clear. You must have gone to the Rotorua area to see the Maori Institute.

&gt;&gt;'but our tour was not going to Rotorua'

This is not clear. You must have gone to the Rotorua area to see the Maori Institute.&lt;&lt;

I think the poster meant Waitomo. He wanted to go there, but the tour he was on didn't go to Waitomo, so he found a different day tour to Waitomo and Rotorua.

Lee Ann