Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - October, North Island, four days, a car and a camera

I'll be getting into AKL (rapid solo RTW) in mid-October and will have four full days, a car, and love taking pictures.

Last year I had just one day in September, and spent it driving around the Coromandel Peninsula - gorgeous. Ten years ago she and I went to Taupo, Rotorua, Hawkes Bay, and the Waitomo caves (before taking a freighter from Auckland to San Francisco.)

This time... Northland/Bay of Islands? Do I have time to go down to Wellington? Would appreciate any/all ideas.

Gardyloo, I haven't been further South (on the Nth Island that is) than Rotorua, but I have been North a couple of times (and to the Coromandel which as you have experienced, is well worthwhile).

I sometimes don't even take a camera with me on holidays so my post won't be camera-centric I'm afraid.

Bay of Islands is a very pleasant spot, and a good base. We stayed at Paihia a couple of times. A trip to Russell - original (perhaps unofficially) capital of NZ and allegedly a bit of a 'wild west' town where bad-arsed sailors holed up - is worth a look, if not very spectacular (there is accomm here also).

Boat trips (sedate or lively) available to 'the hole in the rock' at Cape Brett are worth a look.

Waitangi (historic for treaty signing) is a few minutes away.

We took an all day tour to Cape Reinga (right near the top, but not quite the northernmost point of NZ) and that was worthwhile. Trip into dense Kauri forest, drive up to the lighthouse at the top, and the drive back along the ninety mile beach (it's definitely shorter than that), which is a 'public highway' is great. There are massive sand dunes near the top entrance to the beach where you can climb them (it was hard going!) and boogie board your way down.

The bus trip is the recommended way to see this stuff as generally hire cars are not allowed on the beach.

It's pretty good, perhaps not as hilly/spectacular as Coromandel (definitely not as spectacular as South Island) but well well worth a look IMHO.

Whangarei Falls on the way up there is worth a look also. There's doubtless plenty of other stuff (there are public toilets (!) in one of the towns that were interior decorated by some famous Euro artist back in the 70's - they do pong a bit though. :eek:)

Anyway, that's about what I recall - I'm sure whichever part of NZ you go this time will be rewarding.

10 years ago I did a bus day trip to Bay of Islands, Waitangi treaty house, boat trip (sedate) to 'the hole in the rock' at Cape Brett etc. I'm not a real NZ expert but two full days/nights based near the Bay of islands may be enough.

WLG is an hour flight from AKL; or a days long drive - given your previous itineries perhaps flying is better as you've done a good proportion of the first hours of road travel. Airfares on QF NZ [jetconnect, all Economy] are currently running at NZD142 return, these book into O class and hence earn on AAdvantage.

A full day including several hours at Te Papa (http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/Tepapa/English/) (Museum of New Zealand) may be enlightening.

I've done the four days and a car trip too and the first stop was Russell.
Unfortunately we didn't see any kiwis in the wild but this is supposed to be their habitat. I'd recommend not leaving the drive too late (like we did due to a 90+min delay on QF's SYD-AKL flight). Driving the backroads to Russell at 11PM because the ferry has closed for the night was fun but LONG! Think of twist after twist in a road that seems to take an hour.

In true NZ style - NO road signs. :D

We had fun once we'd found our hotel in Russell and did all the fun stuff mentioned above. Some of the farm landscapes overlooking the Bay of Islands are spectacular, so if you had time it might be worth picking a few islands to visit. From memory, we did a pretty long trip in the jetboat, which went a lot further than the hole in the rock.

I can't comment on the museum at Waitangi as we just visited everywhere else then drove to Rotorua.

If you can minimise your road distance you will save a ton of time as there is only one straight road I have tried in the N. Island and it didn't last long. ;)

Make sure you take MAPS or a GPS unit which you can work as NZ roads tend to economise on signage and you will be up a certain creek using just the rental company's tourist map. ;)

Couple of additions:

As BiziBB correctly states, if staying at and driving to Russell, the car trip is a long and awkward one. But Russell is also accessible via a 5 - 10 minute passenger ferry trip from Paihia, and the car ferry BiziBB missed goes from Opua.

The public toilets I referred to are in Kawakawa.

(there are public toilets (!) in one of the towns that were interior decorated by some famous Euro artist back in the 70's - they do pong a bit though. :eek:)

That's Kawakawa (which also has a wide main street from bullock days and a railway line down the middle), and the artist was Hundertwasser.

That's Kawakawa (which also has a wide main street from bullock days and a railway line down the middle), and the artist was Hundertwasser.

Many thanks for all the feedback. The loo in Kawakawa pretty much seals the deal - ever since it won the Golden Plunger award it's been on my loo life list. http://www.thebathroomdiaries.com/GoldenPlungers.html

I'd forgotten the significance of Gardyloo's handle. :D

Just build some buffer into your driving time allocation for flight delays if your particular flight is prone to mechanical or weather delays - or stay somewhere less romantic but more sensible than Russell. ;)

(thanks tupekastar!)