Greetings All!

Come January, 2008 I will be in Auckland and have decided to rent a car and drive oout to see the the West coast black sand beach at Bethell's.

I understand this is @ 1.5 hour drive from Auckland so it's feasible to do as a day trip.

However, are there any other sights in that general area that would make me me consider staying longer?

Also, after that side trip I may return to AKL to fly down to the South Island

OR

drive down to Rotorua. Has anyone done that drive? Is it scenic and about how long should that take?

TIA

I went to both Muriwai Beach and Bethell's beach last year around Dec 1. Muriwai is has a gannet colony that is fun to watch, but I'm not sure if January is still prime chick season. You can hike in the Waitakere Ranges, there's a good visitor center (Arataki). On the way to Muriwai you pass through the Kumeu area which has some good wineries (Coopers Creek was the one I liked best).

Bethell's Beach is not very developed compared to Muriwai or Piha, but that might be a reason to go there. I thought it was very scenic.

I spent an overnight in a nice B&B in Helensville, Malolo House, which is on the way to the west coast. The owner is a wealth of information about the area. There's a hot spring spa in Helensville which I didn't visit but it came recommended.

A couple links to get you started

http://www.helensville.co.nz/malolo.htm

Forgot to post the Arataki link.

http://www.arc.govt.nz/arc/auckland-...ataki_home.cfm

Detailed guides/maps for the Waitakeres were hard to find in Auckland, so you might want to at least bring directions to the visitor center, where you can pick up more.

thanks so much!

can you comment on the drive from Bethell's Beach down to Rotorua?

Is it at all scenic?

Also, the distance maps i've seen don't include BB, can you give me an idea of how long a drive that would be?

To get from Bethell's Beach area to Rotorua you have to go back toward Auckland. I wouldn't say it's the most scenic drive in NZ (you can take the motorway for some of the drive south).

The maps on wises.co.nz can get you detailed directions and distances to anywhere.

For some reason ( probably time restraints ) most tourists seem to, sadly, zoom down the motorway from Auckland to Rotorua - takes approx 3 hours. As migb says, this is not particularly scenic.

To enjoy the NI scenery I would advise you to drive along the Pacific Coast Hwy .ie From Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula , Whangamata, Waihi, Mt Maunganui, Whakatane, onto Rotorua.

Alternatively drive along the rugged west coast to Taranaki - take the Forgotten Hwy and then onto Rotorua.