Songdoc

I'll be spending 4 nights in the Northland/Bay of Islands area May 18 - 21. Do you recommend we base ourselves in one location -- and if so, where? (Russell?) Or should we spent nights in various places?

Also ... what are the "must-see" highlights?

Thanks so much!

LaurenKahn1

I would base yourself in one location such as the Bay of Islands itself. You can radiate out from there. I did a home exchange in Whangerai and used that as my base. Compared to the US and Australia, the drives are manageable.

You want to go through the hole in the rock in the Bay of the Islands because everyone does it (It was choppy the day I went so we went up to but not through the hole). Also go to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds (very near the Bay of Islands.

The highlight for me was driving on the sand back from Cape Reinga. Do this with a tour bus. DO NOT take your car. The go one way on the sand and the other on roads. Much safer with a bus with giant tires.

There is a very nice museum of Scottish heritage (a group of protestent religious fanatics who followed their pastor to Canada before they ended up in Waipu). The story was unfamiliar to me. You could do the museum on the way from Auckland or back to Auckland. It's signposted.

On the other side away from the Bay of Islands is the kauri tree forest. Definitely worth seeing although you will not stop for everything.

Generally, staying in one place as much as you can provides for a much more relaxing trip than packing and unpacking.

There are some decent restaurants in Bay of Islands but not much in the rest of Northland that I saw. You know, you would stumble across an occasional good place and then it would be fish and chips and meat pies and the like. Driving along the shore anywhere was entertaining and always gorgeous.

I did not stay overnight in Bay of Islands so I cannot recommend a hotel.

mlgb

There is a food and wine trail in Northland. If you're there on a Sunday don't miss the farmer's market in Kerikeri.

Some excellent restaurants around Pahia, if you know what to look for.

http://www.northlandnz.com/food_and_..._trail_map.htm

It should be okay to stay in one spot, I don't think Russell is the best place for sightseeing, because you'll have to catch the ferry to go anywhere else.

I stayed at the hotel near the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and it was okay, I got a good rate on wotif. It's a Copthorne, I think.

Songdoc

These sound like good suggestions. Thanks! Unfortunately, won't be there on a Sunday.

If we want to include Cape Reinga -- how long a drive would that be? Trying to figure out if it would require separate lodging.

We'll likely choose a 2-bedroom apartment from wotif. FYI, food and wine aren't of big importance. (Don't drink wine at all -- and meat pies sound good to me!)

Thanks again.

LaurenKahn1

I stayed two nights in Cape Reinga--the day I arrived and then after the tour. I think it was about 3 hours back to Whangerai. I was actually staying in Kamo just north of Whangerai, by the way. If you were based in the Bay of Islands, I do believe there is a day trip that goes there that you can take. I would recommend that you do that rather than driving to the pick up point for the tour out of Kaitaia.

Drat I missed the farmer's market in Kerikeri, but I did go to the one in Kaitaia.

You could stay 2 nights in the Bay of Islands and 2 in Cape Reinga. I am, however, assuming you are going to fly in and out of Auckland. Assuming that is the case, you would not want to drive all the way to Kaitaia on the day you have a flight. With so little time, it might be better to just stick to the Bay of Islands. There is plenty to do there for 4 days. Don't be like Americans trying to do all of NZ in a few days. By the way, I am American, I stayed 2 1/2 weeks and I didn't even see all of the top half of the North Island. LOL. I got as far south as Lake Taupo and the volcanoes, but otherwise was centered in Northland.

Bushranger

Russel is a lovely location but as indicated above you kind of remove yourself some in having to catch a ferry or take a longish unmade in part road to get back to going anywhere.

You'll actually see less of the Northland area by staying in one area and cover more locations without backtracking by doing a eastcoast westcoast loop, there being what they call the twin coasts route for exactly that.

I'd advise you to get a tour up to Cape Reinga for two reasons:
1. about 20-30 km of gravel road has some quite skittish blind curves in quite a few locations, and
2. you could find car hire companies do not actually allow for vehicles being taken on unsealed roads.

There are a number of one vehicle at a time bridges on the Cape road and they have lines across the road and signs to indicate who has right of way so make sure you understand the logic and if all clear still do not be tardy in getting across for you do not know who is coming along who may not abide by the rule logic.

There's very limited accomodation options available on Cape Reinga itself, Pukenui being the last village of any significance and that only a whistle stop, blink and you've missed it.

There's a motel there and a few farmstays and that type of accommodation about the place.

Touring the east/west sides could allow you to come back from Apihara [south of Kaitaia - main northland town but a bit rough] and take some great rural drives around through Broadwood and Kohukohu [ a pub there] on Hokianga Harbour for a ferry across to Rawene on south side and the 125+ Masonic Hotel there is not a bad place to stay, great deck area at back with outlook over the Harbour.

The Kauri forest referred to is a bit further on down the coast and a little walk into what remains of allegedly the largest Kauri in NZ.

When returning to Auckland, if you take route 16/17? from Wellsford it takes you away from where the heavier traffic is and gives you some superb views from hilltop locations and you come back into Auckland via Helensville and the NW Motorway but if not good with maps and following your nose you might want to keep on SH1 to prevent from getting a bit lost.

mlgb

Has anyone been to both Cape Reinga and the Karikari/Matai Peninsula on Doubtless Bay? I only went to the latter and thought it was spectacular. Bad weather cut down my ability to reach the far far far north.

I'm also fond of the west coast leg mentioned by Bushranger via Rawene and Hokianga Harbor (although I haven't done the ferry). There is a well regarded cafe next to the Rawene Ferry (south side) that I missed by about 3 minutes...early closing.

http://www.hokiangatourism.org.nz/destinations.html

Also the fish and chips shop with the dolphin in Opononi I think (or maybe Omapere) is pretty good..get the kumara chips and whatever is fresh.

LaurenKahn1

Remember, the person has only 4 nights in the Bay of Islands. He can't possibly see all the places that have been suggested. Also be aware that NZ roads can be very slow. Lots of one lane bridges.

mlgb

Actually, I think he can see most of the suggestions if he does a loop up the east coast and down the west with different overnight stops. If you stay in one place it isn't possible.

Bushranger

Yep mlgb/Songdoc, it's a case of stick with one or even two places but restrict yourself to out and back trips seeing twice of less or just tour, staying in different locations and you can do that easily enough without rushing.

I went to the Doubtless Bay area mlgb but only on a brief trip to see a guy about some building drafting work and so did not do a sightsee but had heard it's nice there, but did get right to the tip at Cape Reinga and that I think could be best enjoyed by taking some camping gear and staying a few days - some awesome sand dune country about.
And even halfway there, Houhora Heads is a delightfully pristine idyllic spot.

Diamantina

I recommend staying in Paihia or Kerikeri, both central to Bay of Islands attractions. Paihia is right on the water with tourist concessions, and close to Opua (6 km), which is where you can catch a ferry to Russell. Paihia is also right next to Waitangi. It is a charming setting. On our first visit to the Bay of Islands, we stayed in a self contained cottage in the hills above Paihia. It was convenient, comfortable, charming, cheap and its views were breathtaking--but I can't remember what it was called! However, there are quite a few places like this in and around Paihia. (See links below.)
On our second visit to the Bay of Islands we stayed in Kerikeri and it is also charming (in a different way). Unlike Paihia, Kerikeri's center does not sit on the water or offer bay views (though the outlying parts of town have bay views, and the town's historic "Stone House" sits beside the water), so some might not find it as scenic as Paihia. But it is very green and full of gardens. It is also more of a real town with full services and more shops than Paihia, and closer to the highway (SH10). Lots of fun shops with arts and crafts, and local food products, etc. Kerikeri accommodations are also more affordable than those in Paihia. If you stay in Kerikeri and feel like a short look around, you might try driving out to Aroha Island (12 km from center of Kerikeri--so don't go out of your way). Aroha Island has a little kiwi sanctuary, but the kiwis only come out at night. The sanctuary's visitors' information center was interesting.
I, too, recommend the drive past Opononi to Waipoua Forest. The drive is scenic and serene.
If you find yourself near Mangonui village, it's a lovely place to stop for lunch on a sunny day.
I think we must have spent a total of about 12 days in the Bay of Islands over the two trips (and we might be returning to the area this year). It rained quite a bit during both of our visits, but we still enjoyed the area.
http://www.aatravel.co.nz/accommodat...-breakfast.php
http://www.aatravel.co.nz/about-newz...gion-roadtrips
http://www.bayofislands.net/accommodation/
http://www.paihia.co.nz/Feature.cfm?WPID=3371
http://www.arohaisland.co.nz/index.html
http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-rec...aipoua-forest/

TravlPhotog

We went to New Zealand in 2007 and rented a campervan which gave us a great deal of freedom in exploring. If you're not looking for Deluxe accommodations this is a great way to go. Holiday Camper Parks are everywhere and we found them to be very clean. We never needed a reservation--just watched for signs along the highway or consulted our roadmap. All the Camper Parks also have small cabins for those people traveling by automobile who don't want to drive a camper through the mountains. For the most part these little cabins are just for sleeping. The Camper Parks all have centralized bathrooms/showers and also community kitchens/lounges which offer cooking facilities for those so inclined. Most of the camps we found were right on a beach (all of which are different depending on the area of the country). Most of the little restaurants we found served excellent food. And I must say that the people were some of the friendliest and most accommodating we've ever met.

We ended up our last three days in the area you are interest in. We did a fishing charter in Whangaroa (very close to KeriKeri) and had planned to use this area as a staging point for sightseeing this end of the island. However, our charter boat captain urged us to do the northern loop (Whangaroa - Manganui - Kaitia - Opononi - Kauri Forest - Waipua Forest - and then back to Auckland to catch our plane). Were we ever glad we followed his advice! Manganui was a delightful little village with small shops that carried some of the nicest merchandise we had seen on either island, and a small restaurant called The Galley Restaurant & Bar served excellent food. We stayed at a quaint older campground in Opononi called the Opononi Holiday Park, which was right across the road from a lovely beach. It sat on a hillside and the campers were parked amongst the proprietor's automatic lawnmowers (goats tethered here and there as needed). Don't know if this campground is still operating since it was up for sale when we were there. I would check if you plan to do this, as I didn't see any other campgrounds in this area.

We breakfasted on a scenic overlook area from which one could view the entire bay here. There were great hiking trails from this hilltop down to the beach through some beautful thickets. As a photographer, I'm always on the lookout for a great shot!

From here we headed for the Kauri trees. We were definitely not disappointed! All we could say was "WOW!!!" We spent quite a bit of time here walking among the trees and the surrounding forest. I only wish we had had more time. (Of course, I said that about almost every place we went in NZ.) After you leave the giant trees, there is a Waipoua Information Center that has some marvelous old vintage photos detailing the early history of the forest, if you're a history buff. On the way to Dargaville we stopped at a roadside shop called Nelson's Kauri Wood Products, expecting to find some small touristy items. Were we ever surprised! Some of the items we found here were works of art! The building alone is worth the stop. It's a circular type building with a center support that's a huge Kauri trunk. A very interesting stop. From there we drove on to Auckland, as we had to catch our plane the next day. I wouldn't recommend doing this part. It would have been better to stop in Dargaville, as it was a VERY long drive, but we would do it all over again if we had to in order to see this part of the island.

Probably the most helpful website I found for our trip was this one:

www.accommodationz.co.nz/distancesnorth2.html

It's a distance and driving time calculator for the North Island. It doesn't have some of the smaller towns, but I will say that the driving times were pretty much spot on for the most part.

LaurenKahn1

I believe that Kerikeri is also the town that had the steam train and the Hundertwasser toilet.

Bushranger

Well The Kk bit is right LK - NZ just having too many Ks
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1685167

When you are getting about songdoc, NZ has something of a vehicle break ins problem you ought to be aware of - occurs particularly at hiking trail carparks!.

With any vehicle you hire, ask if it has the remote trunk control deactivated or is of a locking type and whether stickers advising of that are on windows - may prevent a broken window.

And then make sure any valuables, or anything for that matter are left in the trunk.