Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - 3 free nts before AKL? Thinking Napier and drive to AKL?

My DS is doing a semester abroad at U. of AKL. DH and I are going to visit him in mid April. Due to some wierd timing he's going to be on a field trip the first 3 days we are there.

We fly into AKL and arrive at 5:00am on a friday AM. I was thinking of flying to Napier at around 7:00am and then using the 3 nights to drive one way back to AKL. DH and I love beaches, water, wineries and cities. We know it will be fall but looks like its a good time of year to visit. We are fine spending most of the time with DS in AKL and will do an overnight to Bay of Islands from AKL.

It looks like Napier to AKL is doable in the amount of time. I would like to visit some wineries in Hawkes Bay. I have been to Rotorua and I think DH would be fine with only a 2 hour visit. He would not like the glow worm caves. I'm thinking 1 night in Napier and 2 nts in Lake Taupo and then driving via Rotorua to AKL in one day?

I think it would be too iffy (not to mention colder) to go to Queenstown as I have heard that it can be quite rainy, foggy at that time of year.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all!

Spent a weekend near Napier a couple of years ago ( a Flyertalk DO, in fact :))

We actually stayed at Waimarama, on the beach about 45 minutes drive from Napier - it suited the group at the time, but I would think you would be better off basing closer to, or in Napier itself (especially at that time of year - there is not a helluva lot other than houses at Waimarama), though that would depend on which wineries/other venues you planned to see in the area.

Several of us shared a rental beach house at Waimarama, which we rented from the proprietors of The Whitehouse B&B (http://thewhitehousebandb.co.nz/) at Havelock North, between Napier and Waimarama. When we picked up the key, we were invited in for a cold beer and a nice long chat with the hosts - while we did not actually stay at The Whitehouse, the hosts were both friendly and knowledgeable, and the living part of the house (upstairs) was very nice and afforded some good views. So while we didn't actually stay at TWH, it looked very worthy of consideration (though it is about 25 minutes drive from Napier itself).

In the area, we visited Arataki Honey, Te Mata Cheese factory, Silky Oaks Chocolate and some wineries. Mission Estate was a great outdoors lunch (not sure how outdoors would be in April - I imagine you could get any type of weather) in a beautiful setting, Craggy Range provided a good lunch also, and had great views as well. Dinner at Elephant Hill winery nearby, and also a visit/tour to Church Road winery. All pretty good, Mission Estate probably the standout (from an overall perspective). I think there are around 60 to 70 wineries in the area, so no shortage of choice.

There is also Cape Kidnappers nearby which has among other things a large gannet colony. We did not visit here - I have it in my head that there is a charge to access the area, but can find no evidence of that, so maybe I imagined it. Te Mata Peak is the highest point in the area and is worth a look.

Napier itself, as you probably know, is an art deco town due to extensive reconstruction after an earthquake in the 1930s, so some interesting architecture on view generally.

Can't help with Taupo, not yet been there, though may be rectifying that situation in a couple of months. ;)

Have fun!

That's a pretty good plan with some pretty and varied countryside along the way. A shorter alternative is to go to the Coromandel peninsula (along with everyone else in Auckland -- actually it is still charming even though much more developed in the past decade). The best chocolate cake I've had in my life was in the bakery at Thames -- its that kind of place.