vjoe

Hi,
It's me again. This is the first part of my trip to NZ and Oz. We'll land in Auckland Sept 21 and leave for Oz Oct 1st.

So what can we do on the North Island in this short time? My parents are not in great hiking shape so no tramping in the plan for now. We'll rent a car.

I'm thinking land - go to Waitomo, Rotorua, drive back along the East coast to Auckland, stop at Tauranga.

Anything I should add to this? Do we have enough time to drive up north to see the 90 miles beach? I think we'll minimize time in Auckland because we'll be spending a lot of time in Sydney and Melbourne later.

thanks!

ElendilPickle

Here's how we spent 10 days on the North Island in April 2004 - http://community.webshots.com/user/ElendilPickle

As you'll see, we did some tramping in Tongariro and Egmont National Parks, but you could certainly cut that out.

You could drive down to Wellington; it's a lovely little city, and Te Papa Museum is definitely worth seeing.

Lee Ann

vjoe

I went through your great pictures, looked like a lot of fun. Wellington looks like a big city. I'm not too interested in big cities since we'll be in Melbourne and Sydney later. Is there
any good sights in the vicinity?

Can you give me a overview of your route? It's not obvious in the pictures.
I see Rotorua to Tongariro to wellington

Things I want to do
bungy
the big ball thing(?)
Mauri cultures
natural sights

Don't want to do
whale watching
long trek
snow
parents not hobbit fans so no LOR activities unless it's a great site like Mount doom. 8)

dmjapril

Hi vjoe
You could drive from Rotorua up to Whakatane and take a day tour across to White Island - an active volcano and then continue your journey along the coastline stopping at Tauranga.
www.whiteisland.co.nz

dmjapril

By the way the big ball thing (zorbing) can be found at the Agrodome just outside Rotorua. My fiance and I also did the hydrozorb together in the same ball - we couldn't stop laughing all the way down the hill!!!

Natural sights - we visited Wai o Tapu. This seemed to be the most highly recommended thermal area on this website when I was doing my research last year. The champagne pools are amazing.

vjoe

Ok, great! Thanks for the info. Wai O Tapu is just south of Rotorua so that's convenient.

How about a list of 5 must see sights on the North Island?
so far
- waitomo cave
- wai o tapu and Rotorua area
- mauri culture, which spot is best?
- tongariro area
- beaches?

top 3 must do...
- bungy
- zorbing
- ???

Does New Zealand has interesting musical instruments?

ElendilPickle

Hi Vjoe,

The pictures are in order, but here's a more detailed itinerary:

Day 1 Auckland to Whakatane via the Karangahape Gorge; spent a good chunk of the day getting there with stops to sightsee and nap

Day 2 Dolphin swim in Whakatane; drove to Rotorua and went to the Mai Ora concert and hangi at Te Puia (NZ Maori Arts and Crafts Institute)

Day 3 Rotorua to Tongariro via Waiotapu (incredible geothermal stuff), Taupo, and Turangi

Day 4 We'd planned to do the Tongariro Crossing, but it was too cloudy on the route, so we did a shorter hike and then drove up to the Whakapapa ski area to do our Lord of the Rings lembas pictures. If the weather is good, you'll be able to see Ngauruhoe aka Mt. Doom as you drive. Instead of staying another day at Tongariro, we drove to Wellington via Okahune. We were going to take Hwy. 2 past Kaitoke Regional Park into Wellington, but realized it would be dark by the time we got there, so we drove on Hwy. 1 through Palmerston North and down the coast.

Day 5 Wellington - Te Papa Museum and walking around

Day 6 Wellington - Mt. Victoria and Miramar, then to Kaitoke Regional Park (all LotR-related) and over to Wanganui

Day 7 Wanganui to Egmont National Park for a bit of hiking

Day 8 Egmont to Waitomo for black water rafting and a night hike to see more glowworms

Day 9 Waitomo to Auckland

Day 10 Auckland to home

Does that help?

Lee Ann

ElendilPickle

I was in a hurry and forgot to comment on Wellington.

Although it's the capital of New Zealand, it's really not a big city like Auckland. Wellington reminds me a lot of San Francisco - compact, sitting on the water, with hills and a vibrant cultural scene. It's easy to walk and get around. I would have been happy to spend at least another day there.

However, if you want to go into Northland, you will probably want to skip Wellington and not go any farther south than Waiotapu.

Lee Ann

pjcrestwood

We would love to have you stay with us if you decide to go to White Island volcano off Whakatane
www.crestwood-homestay.co.nz