Landed in Auckland a day after leaving Tahiti! We lost a complete day again. We picked up the hire car “Gavin Still” which was a blue Mitsubishi ASX. Note that every car we have hired since 1999 has been called “Gavin Still” No worries driving as they drive on the left. We had eleven nights on the island. It was a hard decision on what to see in the limited time. We’d mentioned the far north, we wanted to stand on the most Northern point of NZ, see the lighthouse and the point where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean. It was worth the seven hour round trip drive from Paihia in the Bay of Islands.
We headed back south of Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula and stayed in Whitianga, where we took an amazing coastal cruise and saw a pod of dolphins, purely by chance. Headed back up the peninsula to Tairua for a couple of nights before heading further south to Rotorua to see the geothermal pools/features. Originally the glow worm caves in Waitomo were on the list but it was another two hour drive from Rotorua. We had planned to visit on the way back to Auckland but the weather was horrendous with thunderstorms and torrential rain. Arriving in Auckland and the weather was against us, we had a very quick look around the city before heading to our overnight stay. Car handed back to the hire company in one piece and we had clocked up 1,179 miles. A whirlwind trip and we just managed to scratch the surface of what the North Island had to offer.
Day 1 – Auckland to Mangawhai
Day 2 – Langs Beach, Waipu Caves, Whangarei Basin, Paihia
Day 3 – Cape Reigna, Lighthouse, Te Paki Sand Dunes, 90 Mile Beach
Day 4 – Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Hundertwasser Public Toilets, Russell
Day 5 – Drive from Paiha to Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula via Whangarei Waterfall
Day 6 – Coast Cruise from Whitianga, Kuaoruna Beach
Day 7 – Drive from Whitianga to Tairua via Hot Water Beach
Day 8 – Tairua – Climbed Mount Paku
Day 9 – Drive from Tairua to Rotorua via Thames, Kuirau Park
Day 10 – Waiotaupe Geothermal Park, Government Gardens
Day 11 – Drive Rotorua to Auckland
Day 12 – Fly to Christchurch, South Island