Auckland to Wellington with Toddler
 

We have made a few changes to our plan and wanted to see if any of you can critique our itinerary below. Thanks in advance for your help!

10/16 : Auckland Afternoon (Arrive 1pm)
10/17: Auckland One tree Hill & Kelly Tarlton
10/18 : Auckland Waiheke Island
10/19: drive to Hot water Beach and drive to Tauranga Stay 1 night
10/20: Spend day in Tauranga & Drive in the evening to Rotorua (Stay night)
10/21 Stay Rotorua
10/22 Driving to Turangi (Creel Lodge stay)
10/23 Driving to Wellington
10/24 Wellington
10/25 Wellington
10/26 Leaving Wellington (2PM Flight)

What's in Tauranga you wish to see/do? I would spend the night in Whitianga or Hahei instead of Tauranga.

First off, Thank you so much for your reply! :)

I am not sure what we would like to see in Tauranga lol.

It just looked like a nice place to stop while we drive down to Rotorua and it is close to rotorua, so the drive wouldnt bee too bad with the little one. We are sort of lost where we should go and stop over. Lol



Hahei and Whitianga looks to be very north for our route, and that drive would be close to might be too close 3+ hours. Would there be any other spots we should stop by before rotorua or even the drive from Turagi to wellington?

From what I can ascertain in your itinerary, you start the day from Auckland on October 19 and drive to Hot Water Beach, then continue on to Tauranga. That's almost a 5 hour drive. My suggestion is to stay in Hahei or Whitianga, both very near to Hot Water Beach, making the day's drive less than 3 hours.

Yes, it's over 3 hours driving time to Rotorua from Hahei, but isn't that better than making the detour to Tauranga? Your logic fails me unless there's something specific you want to see or do in Tauranga.

We have been double-minded about driving or flying from Rotorua to Wellington instead of the drive because we have a 2 year old, and are unfamiliar with what the driving conditions will be during mid to late Oct.

Also, I wanted to ask if there are any local stops to take that are not so touristy, such as a unique wool shop or something not so commercialized.My wife is into wines and she mentioned that Napier and martinborough is a great place to have some wines.

Sharing your experience and feedback would be greatly appreciated and helpful to our family trip. Thank you all again in advance for your help!


10/16 : Auckland Afternoon (Arrive 1pm)
10/17: Auckland One tree Hill & Kelly Tarlton
10/18 : Auckland
10/19: drive to Hobbiton and Rotorua (stay night)
10/20: Rotorua (Stay night)
10/21 Drive to Taupo (Stay Night)
10/22 Drive to Napier (Stay Night)
10/23 Driving to Wellington Anyone know how this drive is int erms of conditions, Any stops we should take on the way?
10/24 Wellington
10/25 Wellington
10/26 Leaving Wellington (2PM Flight)