As we wrap up our time here in New Zealand, I wanted to list all of our adventures- both to reminisce and to provide a travel guide for anyone interested. Since there is so much to see and do, I've split this into the north and south islands.
Here is a map of the north island and the different trips we've taken (color coded for those of us who have a proclivity for obsessive compulsive personality types).
Since we lived in Auckland, most of our adventures were weekend trips, close enough to drive to.
I'll start with Auckland itself. You don't come to New Zealand to spend your time in Auckland. It's a big city. There are better ones, there are worse ones. These were our favorite activities in the city and surrounding areas:
Waiheke Island
Tons of vineyards and beautiful beaches
Take the ferry from downtown Auckland, buy tickets for the hop on-hop off bus or use taxis (no uber on island and too large to walk everywhere) Waiheke Island | Wineries and things to do | Fullers360
Auckland Domain-large Park with Botanical Gardens & War Memorial
Matakana
45 min drive north of Auckland, cute little town with great restaurants and shops (we liked Matakana Market Kitchen for brunch- if it’s nice out can sit by the creek)
Really busy on Saturdays, they have a farmers market there; we only went on a Sunday
Great views and short hikes at Tawharanui Regional Park
Native bird sanctuary; lots of Takahe
Piha Beach
45 minutes west of Auckland, very windy and narrow road to get there. Beautiful black sand beaches. Can be busy with tourists, the beach just North of it is called Bethell's beach and is just as nice.
Takahe near Matakana
In terms of road trips, I'll start with the purple one. We started from Auckland and drove to Lake Taupo, then Rotorua, then Hobbiton on our way back to Auckland.
Lake Taupo
Spa Thermal Park to Huka Falls- short and easy walk
Spa Thermal Park to Huka Falls Walk | Walks in Taupo | Taupo Official Website (lovetaupo.com)
At the start of the trail there is a natural hot spring where you can swim
Wairakei Terrace Hot Springs (my favorite hot springs in NZ; adults only)
William swimming in Lake Taupo- super clear!
Rotorua
Weren’t too impressed with the city and the free geothermal areas, if you’ve been to Yellowstone it is very underwhelming. There are many other geothermal areas where you can walk around and look at the geysers/hot pools/geothermal features but these tend to be expensive. There are a lot of hot pools advertised, but they seemed expensive and touristy; much nicer and cheaper ones can be found many other places in NZ
Loved rafting the Kaituna river just outside of Rotorua- the highest commercially available waterfall at 7m. Really fun! Rotorua Rafting | Best White Water Rafting In Rotorua (rotorua-rafting.co.nz)
Hobbiton
Kind of in the middle of nowhere, a few hours south of Auckland
Cool experience, especially if a LOTR fan; even if you aren’t it was still enjoyable
Us enjoying a rainy day at Hobbiton!
Orange trip to Tongariro National Park
Tongariro Alpine Crossing
One-way 12.3-mile hike, requires transportation to be booked in advance
Really challenging but incredible scenery
Tongariro Alpine Crossing | World Heritage Area, a top ten 1 day hike in the world (tongarirocrossing.org.nz) (helpful website with links to shuttle booking)
Gorgeous views from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing!
Yellow trip to New Plymouth and Mount Taranaki
New Plymouth
A cool little town about 5 hours drive from Auckland, we would have stayed here longer or come back if we had the time!
Egmont National Park- Mt Taranaki (for the film ‘The Last Samurai’, this was the mountain used as Mt Fuji)
We hiked to Pouakai Tarns, which was a beautiful reflective pool, definitely recommend if the weather is good, if overcast won’t be able to see anything
We used the Mangorei trail which is essentially a very boring hike of stairs until the last 20 minutes Mangorei Track to Pouakai Tarns: Walking track in Egmont National Park (doc.govt.nz)
We did not do this-but I wish we had- a more scenic (but longer) route to Pouakai Tarns Pouakai Crossing (doc.govt.nz)
Pouaki Tarns with gorgeous views of Mt Taranaki!
Pink trip to the Coromandel Peninsula
Coromandel Peninsula
We went to New Chums Beach, which was a beautiful beach but requires about a 20min walk over a lot of rocks
William went with some friends to Hot Water Beach (a geothermal beach where you can dig a hole & sit in your own hot pool in the sand), which is touristy but he really liked it; must check tides as you can only go within a few hours of low tide
Heard good things about The Lost Spring thermal pools (Whitianga), but never made it
People recommended Puragi Winery but didn’t make it
A stroll on New Chums Beach
Blue Trip to Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
Paiha is a main city in Bay of Islands, take the 15-minute ferry from here to Russell, historic small town
Boat tour to different islands in the area- we did this one and enjoyed it Paihia/Russell: Hole in the Rock and Bay of Islands Cruise | GetYourGuide
Stop at Waipu Caves on the way from Auckland (free, tons of glow worms, pretty cool) Waipu Caves Track: Waipu area, Northland region (doc.govt.nz)
Stop at Whangarei falls on the way from Auckland Whangarei Falls (waterfalls.co.nz)
Hike on our Bay of Islands tour
Poor Knights Island (about an hour boat ride from Bay of Islands area)
Known internationally for scuba diving
Diving: Northland Dive (long drive from anywhere, would recommend staying in one of their cabins overnight before diving, they have a great property) Northland Dive – Northland's best dive experience from bed to boat
We did a 3 day-2 night liveaboard and it was awesome
We have loved living in New Zealand for the past six months. Here are some of our favorite video memories from the North Island!
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