North Island--preliminary itinerary
 

We’ve been to the South Island twice, so for our third trip to New Zealand this coming October, we thought we’d concentrate on the North Island. Main interests are enjoying the scenery, light hiking/walking, food/wine. And just being somewhere different than Southern California.

We have 10 nights…flying into Wellington and will likely spend a minimum of 2 nights there getting used to the time change. Hoping that gives us a reasonable time to visit two other North Island areas, in addition to 1-2 nights in Auckland for a flight home. Leading contender for the two NI areas are: Hawke’s Bay and the Northland, probably the Bay of Islands.

One other wrinkle: we’re getting older and driving on the left side is getting stressful, so hoping to minimize driving with domestic flights and maybe even the bus, although still know we'll need to rent a car. So here we go:

After 2 nights in Wellington getting used to the time change, we head to Hawke’s Bay, probably via air, although driving is a possibility. Maybe 3 nights there?

From there an air connection to the Bay of Islands areas for another 3 nights. And it looks like we could take a bus from there back to Auckland. So, a couple of potential places to sample the North Island in spring? Thoughts? Other places we should consider instead?

Three visits to New Zealand and we have always gone the Campervan route. That said, we are from the UK so driving on the left hold no fears for us! Quite the opposite, it is pleasure to drive there without the traffic we have in the UK. I do know what you mean though, we were in California in January and I found driving through LA pretty stressful at times (though apparently not as stressful as my wife found it sitting in the passenger seat!)

We much preferred the South Island to the north but there were places we really enjoyed in the north like the Coromandel Peninsula , though I can't imagine doing that without a car. A bit too remote perhaps? The Bay of Islands is wonderful and there is a lot do do around there . Not too sure about Hawkes Bay. We did enjoy our time in the nearby Art Deco town of Napier.

One area which would be worth considering is around Lake Taupo. We holed up in Taupo town for a week and loved it there. Lots of thermal areas to explore and Rotorua is only a couple of hours away by bus. https://www.newzealand.com/uk/taupo/. https://www.newzealand.com/uk/rotorua/ Being situated on huge lake it is very easy to get buses around the lake. We visited many places around the lake , most of which I have forgotten the names. Kinloch, I recall was a very nice laid back lakeside village.

I don't recall be especially fond of Wellington so would likely just spend the night of arrival there.

Thanks crellston and the Lake Taupo/Rototura area certainly seems to be the part of the North Island tourist area that we're leaving out and it could certainly replace either Napier or Bay of Islands. (When I mentioned Hawke Bay, the thinking was to stay in Napier.) As to Wellington, we arrive there solely because a wrinkle in the FF universe could get us there and to no other city in New Zealand! That said, I recall on our first visit renting a car and going to some nice wineries near there.

I also appreciate your comment about preferring the South Island to the North. We have loved our two trips to the South Island, but just hoping to poke our heads up north and see what it is all about. (Well, other than quick stops in Auckland and Wellington.) Also thinking the weather might be a touch better up there in October. But I suppose if the goal is to just hit two areas in NZ on this trip, we could pick one place on each island and just hang out in each one for several days to minimize driving--if just one night in Wellington and Auckland, we could do four nights in each place. We're particularly fond of Wanaka on the South Island.

I too, much prefer the South Island to the North. We've visited the South over a dozen times, but only ventured up North twice, and felt the same way about it each time.

Expect more people, more traffic, more logging, and well, more city trappings in general.

Our main purpose for visiting the North Island the second time was to spend time in Martinborough in the Wairarapa wine region, home to the best Pinot Noir my spouse claims to have ever put his lips to. And Wellington, because it was easy to combine with Martinborough.

Don't know if it will help or not, but here's the link to a trip report I wrote following that second visit. The North Island is at the top of the page.

https://www.fodors.com/community/aus...aland-1040212/

Melnq8--yes, your trip report is helpful and I recall reading it several years ago when preparing for our last South Island trip. And I suppose we could easily copy it in an abbreviated form: wine region near Wellington and fly down to Wanaka for the rest of our trip. I guess we're experiencing the age-old travel dilemma of deciding if it's better to return to a place you really like, or to go to someplace new!

I get that magritten. We've visited a few new places in the past couple of years, but our old favorites still call us back. I look forward to re-visiting the South Island one of these days - we were last there in 2018 and it seems like eons ago.

Since you're flying in to Wellington, I'd recommend looking into the overnight Kiwi Spotting Tour to Kapiti Island. There is bus service from Wellington to Paraparaumu. I stayed in Paraparaumu before the visit and in the Kapiti Island cabins. (The town is worth a quick visit as well as having a spectacular golf course) More info here:

https://www.kapitiisland.com/tours-a...-spotting-tour.

Also I agree about going to Wairarapa (Martinborough) if you are into the wine tasting. (Was that Ata Rangi, Melnq8?) There are several ways to get there, including train/bus, shuttle and tour from Wellington. You don't need a car while there, you can stumble or bike between wineries as the town is level flat. Lots of info on the NZ tourism website.

Napier was okay but it would be lower down on my list than the central area of North Island (Rotorua/Taupo/Turangi/National Park). It isn't that far from Taupo (by main highway) if you are up for driving from there (or fly from Wellington one way and then one way back to Auckland).

I'm kind of lukewarm on Bay of Islands, personally. It has some history and the coastal attractions but the best coastal scenery is up in Northland.

Tip: Log in to airnz.co.nz to get the interisland flights.

PS if the flight wasn't so awfully long I would go back in a minute.

Ah, I was there in 2010 and bought something in that time frame, but no notes although it was something from the 00's? I recall them bragging on one particular year but I preferred a different one. We drank it in 2019 and it was still wonderful.

I appreciate the ideas here and looks like another vote for the Taupo/Rotorua area over the two areas where we're currently leaning. Re Northland, while I mentioned Bay of Islands, if we did head there I'm not fully sure which part we'd go to. But after re-reading Melnq8's trip report, I'm also wondering if we hit one spot on each island. Lots to figure out!

10 nights is an awfully short time for a NZ trip. Even when I worked they'd allow me 3 weeks. The misconception is that because it looks tiny on the world map, it is like a trip to Hawaii. But it's really closer to the size of California ( bit longer but narrower). And often "you can't get there from here".

Well, it will be our third trip and the others were about 10 nights as well, so I'd like to think we're spending a month in New Zealand--just spread out over multiple years. ;)

If you will be arriving in Wellington on a weekend (Thursday through Sunday) during the first half of October, it would best to reserve accommodation well in advance because of a special event, World of Wearable Art. Among my top picks for Wellington city are Te Papa Museum, Zealandia Ecosanctuary, and the Cable Car, which takes you from the CBD to the near the top of Wellington's Botanic Garden, followed by, weather permitting, a walk down through the Botanic Garden back to the CBD. As it will be spring, the gardens will be beautiful.

Martinborough is about a 90-minute drive from downtown Wellington. Part of this drive takes you along Rimutaka Hill, which is steep and winding and in October it might be wet and windy, too. Wellington is known for being windy and October is generally the windiest month. You can also take a train from Wellington to Featherston and arrange for a Martinborough wine tour to pick you up from the station, (I've not taken this train, but here's a link https://wairarapanz.com/about-wairar...-martinborough)

If you decide to drive to Martinborough and would like to do more than wine and dine while there, consider a drive out to Cape Palliser on the South Wairarapa Coast.
https://wairarapanz.com/cape-palliser

While in Auckland, you might want to take a ferry trip on Hauraki Gulf. Consider going to Waiheke Island, where you can then travel to many wineries on foot or by bus. The Waiheke ferries run frequently. The wineries are lovely and so is the wine. Or you might enjoy a ferry ride to volcanic Rangitoto Island. Several days a week, it's also possible to travel to Tiritiri Matangi Island, which, like Rangitoto Island, is a predator-free ecosanctuary run by the Dept. of Conservation. In fine weather, you could spend hours walking its tracks and viewing an abundance of native birds. However, the ferry trip takes far longer and costs more than those to Waiheke or Rangitoto.

Looks like we'll miss the Wearable Art event (?) and I just realized we'll also miss New Zealand's Labor Day, as we'll arrive on October 25 and it's the previous day. My wife is a landscape designer, so Botanical Gardens are always on the list--and it looks like there are hotel options in Wellington that's walking distance to their gardens. And thank you for the wine tasting link!

I am curious about what people think of the ferry to Waiheke Island--assuming we have a day in Auckland prior to our flight out, I think we'd enjoy that and it's something we hadn't done in our two other (brief) times in Auckland.

Spring is the perfect time for a landscape designer to visit! And by late October, the weather will have also improved.

That's good that you'll be visiting after WOW. Though it's a great show--I've been three times. It's kind of cross between Cirque du Soleil and a surreal version of Project Runway with South Pacific influences and liberal use of upcycled and sustainable materials. It started in Nelson but, as the event grew, was moved to Wellington. Maybe you've visited their museum in Nelson during one of your South Island trips?

Here's a link to NZ's Cuisine Wine magazine:
https://cuisinewine.co.nz/region/new...aiheke-island/

The ferry from Auckland would take you to Waiheke's Matiatia Ferry Terminal, which is currently being upgraded. From the ferry dock you can walk up to Cable Bay Vineyards then Mudbrick Winery. It would probably take you 15 to 20 minutes (through Te Atawhai Whenua Reserve) to get to Cable Bay Vineyards and then another 10 minutes to walk along the road to Mudbrick. There are directions for this walking path at the bottom of this page:https://cablebay.nz/contact-us-careers/
Both wineries are gorgeous and have restaurants with views(most Waiheke wineries have restaurants and great views). OR you can jump on the 50A bus in the direction of Onetangi, jump off at the Vineyards stop to visit Wild on Waiheke, Stonyridge, Te Motu and Tantalus; they're all within about 5- to 10-minutes walk of one another.. There's a map at the bottom of this bus schedule that will show you where the wineries are: Attachment 7246
Then you can hop on the bus returning in the direction of the ferry terminal, and if it's early enough, get off at the stop closest to Cable Bay Vineyards (as I recall it's only about a 5 minute uphill walk), then walk down to the ferry terminal when you're done (much easier going down than up). Alternatively, after visiting Wild on Waiheke, Stonyridge, Te Motu and Tantalus, you can jump back on the bus and continue to Onetangi to look at, or walk on, what I think is the best beach on Waiheke. It's also possible to rent a car near the ferry terminal, which would allow you to explore farther afield to wineries such as Man O'War and Passage Rock. There are too many wineries to mention them all!

I advise you to email or call the wineries ahead of your visit as we've had a lot of disruptions due to Covid. But, with any luck, Covid cases will have greatly declined by then.

It's nice to jump on the ferry back to Auckland around sunset. I think some of the ferries also stop in Devonport, if you'd like to have look around there.

Have you yet visited Villa Maria Winery near Auckland Airport?

Thanks for the detail on Waiheke. Our flight leaves AKL at 8:25 pm and--assuming we spend our final night in Auckland--it seems like we could potentially spend the day on the island before heading to the airport. (At least if we got an early start and we clearly couldn't catch the sunset on the fairy.) And I very much appreciate the winery information! Our winery experience in New Zealand has been limited to the area around Wellington on our first trip, so there's lot for us still to explore.

I'm curious...are New Zealanders expecting an onslaught of tourists now that it's re-opening? We were quite shocked at how many more tourists we saw on our second trip compared to our first. Clearly, the beauty of NZ isn't much of a secret anymore...

I can't speak for New Zealanders, but I can tell you that as visitors to NZ since the 90's we've seen a steady increase in tourism. There was a time we felt like the only visitors, but that is long gone.

Back in the day most of the visitors we encountered seemed to be from Japan, and we'd often see NZ shops advertising in Japanese in an attempt to draw them in.

These days it's more Chinese - NZ now hosts Chinese New Year celebrations, etc.

On our last trip in 2018, we questioned whether or not we'd be returning - even though we've almost always visited in the off season, there seems to be no off season anymore. NZ has had many campaigns aimed at Asian visitors in an attempt to fill those slow months. They now sponsor Amway conferences, etc in the slower seasons, so places like Queenstown and Wanaka seem busy all the time - at least to me. There are places in NZ we give a wide berth to given the influx of tourists.

Diamantina lives in Dunedin and can offer a local's perspective.

My first visit to NZ was in 1988 (it was on PanAm after Lockerbie when no one wanted to fly anywhere).

The last was in 2010 and like Melnq8 I questioned whether I would ever go back. And that was 12 years ago! I can't even imagine what it was like just before everything shut down.

Certainly glad I was able to go then, haven't added up all of the visits but it was a lot! Easy to do from Los Angeles.

There were very few parts of NZ that I didn't get to, mostly the farthest ends such as the spit beyond Doubtless Bay, the north end of Coromandel beyond Kuaotuno, and Golden Bay/Takaka.

One of the best visits was to Dunedin when I joined in at the Rhododendron Festival Golf tournament and I was paired with an older gent who was a gardener at the club at Balmacewen and had grown up in the remote "Pig Route" region.

I'm starting to think of the old Yogi Berra quote: "No one goes there anymore. It's too crowded." It certainly was a night and day difference between our first visit in 2008 and our second in 2018.

As a 1990 visitor and a 2019 visitor it was easy to think of NZ as ruined. Queenstown was a little village, in 2019 it’s like Vail and choked with traffic. I had the Tongoriro Crossing to myself before, in 2019 it was like Times Square.

Anyway, Wellington is the most beautiful NZ city and the museums and gardens are worth a look. There’s the Peter Jackson studio and nice walks in Mt Victoria Reserve.

The highlight of the central plateau is less Taupo and Rotorua and more Tongoriro NP. Try to start your crossing about noon if you are reasonably fit to avoid morning crowds, and north to south is less busy.

Also liked Coromandel but scary driving. Take the inland detour to the huge kauri trees.

A plug for Taranaki
 

For what it is worth, my favourite part of the North Island is the province of Taranaki. Not so much traffic, many lovely and deserted beaches, incredibly lush forests and pastures, and on a fine day it is hard to beat the views of and from Mt Egmont. You could spend your entire trip there and not run out of things to do. Quite literally a land of milk and honey: there are dairy farms and apiaries everywhere on the volcanic ringplain.. There's not a lot of traffic and you can easily get there by bus or plane from Wellington.

My favourite activities outside of the national park tracks are walking or cycling the coastal walkway near New Plymouth; the Len Lye art museum and shopping for artisan cheese.

Hawkes Bay is nice too, but Taranaki would always get my vote.
Graeme

I appreciate the additional thoughts about the central plateau. Tongoriro has not been on our radar list, but sounds like something to research. Coromandel seems quite attractive, but I've worried about the driving and your comment might have completely removed it from consideration. The big question for my wife and I to answer is if we look for two areas to explore on the North Island (original idea) or pick one place in the North and then head down to Wanaka, which has been the highlight of both of our previous trips.

We have actually considered this and when we initially thinking of Napier, we were thinking: Napier or New Plymouth? I appreciate your input!

I've been to new Plymouth, and no I would not move it up your list, considering that the chance of seeing Mt. Egmont is pretty small. The track I walked in Egmont Forest near New Plymouth was particularly full of tricky roots, aka ankle-breakers. The gardens in town were nice, though. I went during the Festival of Lights there, which looks like it is back this year!
Also since you said you are getting nervous about driving, that would drop both Taranaki and Hawke's Bay (beyond Napier and whatever one could access nearby by car or tour nearby) lower down on the list.

October isn't really beach weather for swimming even on the North Island. And more so on the SI. I was snowed on in December there!

The Tongariro Crossing is a difficult (not "light") hike, although there are some shorter ones.

I am with LGBTQIA’s on New Plymouth. We went there on our last trip before starting our drive along "The Forgotten World Highway. Loved that drive even if it was in torrential rain and high winds and involved us having to help farmers move fallen trees etc.. NP itself was singularly unimpressive in my considered opinion. We were in the area for maybe three days and not a peek of the mountain. If you happen to be an Elvis fan there is an interesting stop at a "museum " nearby.


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https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0e4848920.jpeg
Tongariro is stunning but it is a pretty hardcore day hike. I wouldn’t attempt it unless you are already a keen hiker as it is not the sort of hike where you can just turn around and go back. If concerned about driving, forget about Coramandel!

I assume that mlgb autocorrected to LGBTQIA!

Re Coromandel, I did not drive all the way around the peninsula due to weather (it was raining and skipping it was the better part of valor). Going from Auckland via Thames and on to Whitianga via Route 25, there are points of interest such as Cathedral Cove (easy walk but check the tide charts), Hot Water Beach (a novelty worth a short stop, also tide dependent), and the Kuaotunu to Otama Beach area (Black Jack Road). That part of the "Coromandel" isn't on the rough road around the top end of the peninsula (although it may have been curvy in parts). Whitianaga is large enough to have some decent restaurants.

I stayed above Kuaotunu town in what would be an Airbnb nowadays. I also had the prior night in Thames in a motel.

PS avoid Matarangi!

Magritten, I wouldn't recommend going to Waiheke on your last day, as you wouldn't be able to truly relax and take your time.

I think it would be better to just enjoy Auckland on your last day. Plus, it's recommended you arrive three hours before your international flight and, going by experience, that sounds about right.How about on your last day visiting an Auckland garden? I trust you've been to the Auckland War Memorial Museum? If not, it has an outstanding collection of Maori and Oceanic art and it's surrounded by the Domain. Or visit the Auckland Art Gallery. Or have along leisurely lunch on the waterfront. My friends who sail enjoy the Maritime Museum. Many Aucklanders seem to enjoy the walk up Mt. Eden.
https://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/...spx?ItemId=393

Since the borders have opened I haven't noticed many tourists, but I live in Dunedin, not popular Queenstown or Wanaka. The newspapers and TV stations covered the first tourist arrivals who mainly seemed to be friends or family of people in NZ, similar to a woman from Brisbane I met at the gym a few days ago, who was visiting relatives in Dunedin. I see rental cars and camper vans around town but this has been the case throughout the pandemic, even when the borders were closed as many Kiwis have used this time to see their own country.

It's winter now so it'll only be high season for the ski areas such as Queenstown and Wanaka. But these are popular destinations at any time of year. Now that NZ has dropped pre-covid testing, many skiers and snowboarders will be more encouraged to visit. Ski season bookings are already high. Australians account for about 40% of NZ's total international arrivals, but about 64% of those who come to ski or snowboard.

Come summer, I fully expect many more tourists (especially if the cruise ships return) and overseas friends and family of NZ residents, to visit NZ. Until then, apart from the skiers and snowboarders, I expect tourists to slowly trickle in. But life is unpredictable these days.

I think now that Americans are traveling in great numbers during the Northern Hemisphere summer and fall, they're more likely to go to Europe as the exchange rates have been advantageous for them, with many taking trips they've deferred since the start of the Covid pandemic. France, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Germany and other top European destinations are always going to attract more tourists than little isolated NZ.

Places change. I would guess most tourist destinations are more crowded than they used to be, not only with more tourists but with more residents. I'm a native San Franciscan who moved to NZ nearly 11 years ago. When I first traveled to NZ in 1996, the country had a population of 3.7 million, now it's 5.1 million.

I also believe it makes a great deal of difference when and how you travel. Off season and off the beaten track will be quieter in any country. But in NZ, even in peak tourist season, you can always find a quiet, serene, nearly isolated corner of nature for yourselves.

You've picked well by visiting after the Labor Day and outside of New Zealand and Australian school holidays. You obviously did your research.

I once spent a few days in Te Anau before and after an overnight trip on Doubtful Sound. I thought I was being smart by avoiding NZ school holidays, but Te Anau turned out to be packed with Australian families on their spring breaks. It was bustling. Real Journeys had to add another trip to the glowworm caves. While I was taken by surprise by how busy the town was, i wasn't at all bothered by it. After all, even though I'd only traveled from Dunedin, I was a tourist, too--and happy to see the local economy booming. Te Anau has had an especially tough time during NZ's Covid closure to the outside world. From an article in The Guardian: "In Te Anau, Milford’s nearest town, absence of visitors during the pandemic has driven many businesses to the edge of collapse. About 85% of Piopiotahi’s visitors are from overseas, said Paul Norris, chief conservation officer of RealNZ, which runs ferry tours in the sound. Losing them was an immense economic shock. “It’s been survival mode,” he said. “You can imagine, the last two years, there’s been an awful lot of people who have left the tourism industry.”

The Bay of Islands is lovely, especially Paihia and Russell, but I think it would be more enjoyable when it's warmer, maybe early December or March (outside of school holidays and busy February). On my first trip to the Bay of Islands, which was either in May or October many, many years ago, it was rainy, windy and cool. I caught a bad cold and spent the next few days just trying to rest up. My husband and I wanted to go scuba diving in the Poor Knights Islands, but as it was the off-season with few tourists around, the scuba dive operator was only offering weekend dives. We were there midweek, by the weekend my cold was so bad scuba diving was out.

Thank you so much, Diamantina. Re Auckland, we did go up Mt Eden on our last day last time. It was a perfect day (the kind that makes you wonder why you have to fly back home) and a nice little cap to end our trip. As to Waiheke, maybe that works better if we have more than 1 night in Auckland. And as per your suggestions, it wouldn't be difficult to find things to do there prior to an evening flight home.

I also appreciate your thoughts on the Bay of Islands. Maybe because we've spent the bulk of our time on the South Island, there's appeal in "getting up north," but just not sure where that might be. But really the focus is mainly on just finding the couple of places to hang out and, as always, hope there's another trip (or two) down the road to see what we've missed.

Re your comments on everything getting crowded, I totally understand that. We're traveling in 2022's reality, not 1982's. (If we could go back in time, my wife and I would really enjoy touring Europe in the 1950s. Think Gene Kelly in American in Paris.) But part of my question about how busy things might be gets to the question of spontaneity. On our first trip (2008) we winged it--no reservations and just drove. We'd love to do that again, but I suspect that won't be practical now, particularly if we're trying to minimize driving. But I'd love to wake up in Wellington in the am and say "hey, the weather looks great in XXX, let's catch a plane there."

Thank you for giving us credit for this, Diamantia, but it was actually driven by FF availability!