Help with a travel itinerary to NZ
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Things to do in the Waikato | WaikatoNZ
The Waikato region has a range of activities and attractions to suit all ages and tastes - from surfing world-class breaks and crawling through caves to wine tasting and heritage trails.
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@dogmeat said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@Nepia Fair enough. Must've changed since I was last there. My main point though was you can get much the same in Auckland (minus the sulphur) and free up some days on your itinerary.
If @nonpartizan had more time then RotoVegas would be a no brainer for a night but especially considering the July equation I think avoiding the Central North Island in favour of more time in the South makes sense
Me personally, I think driving down the island (as part of their 5/6 Auckland days - 5/6 Wellington days time allowance) is a more real slice of NZ than flying Hams to Welly. Plus, then they have a chance to visit the greatest Bay of all.
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@Nepia said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@dogmeat said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@Nepia Fair enough. Must've changed since I was last there. My main point though was you can get much the same in Auckland (minus the sulphur) and free up some days on your itinerary.
If @nonpartizan had more time then RotoVegas would be a no brainer for a night but especially considering the July equation I think avoiding the Central North Island in favour of more time in the South makes sense
Me personally, I think driving down the island (as part of their 5/6 Auckland days - 5/6 Wellington days time allowance) is a more real slice of NZ than flying Hams to Welly. Plus, then they have a chance to visit the greatest Bay of all.
I've done AKL-the Mount-Gisborne-Napier-Wellington by car before, you could easily switch out the Mount and Gisborne for Rotorua. Each leg of the drive is no more than 4 hours or so, quite manageable
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@canefan said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@Nepia said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@dogmeat said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@Nepia Fair enough. Must've changed since I was last there. My main point though was you can get much the same in Auckland (minus the sulphur) and free up some days on your itinerary.
If @nonpartizan had more time then RotoVegas would be a no brainer for a night but especially considering the July equation I think avoiding the Central North Island in favour of more time in the South makes sense
Me personally, I think driving down the island (as part of their 5/6 Auckland days - 5/6 Wellington days time allowance) is a more real slice of NZ than flying Hams to Welly. Plus, then they have a chance to visit the greatest Bay of all.
I've done AKL-the Mount-Gisborne-Napier-Wellington by car before, you could easily switch out the Mount and Gisborne for Rotorua. Each leg of the drive is no more than 4 hours or so, quite manageable
Yeah definitely switch out Gisborne for Rotorua, just for the two roads alone - Vegas to Napier is a much easier drive than the driving to Gizzy and then down the coast to Napier.
I like the drive around the Cape to Gisborne but that's a long summer drive. Plus, I needed to take out a second mortgage to afford bacon and eggs in Gizzy before Covid, god knows how much they cost there now.
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@dogmeat said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@Nepia I thought the consensus had moved away from the 6/6/6 Akl/Wlg/Chc itinerary.
July - Desert Road.... Is it worth risking the trip of a lifetime to be stuck in Taupo
Of course not, that's why you go to the Bay.
Not sure on whether the consensus moved or not
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@nonpartizan said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
Want to go all the way up to the northern most part of NZ if poss
Cape Reinga is genuinely spectacular, and was one of the best destinations of my adult life.
Lots of great natural beauty in Northland. Tutukaka and Russell are gems. I lived for a while in Mangawhai Heads, and have an affection for that area.
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Yes July might not be the best time for driving on some of the SI roads particularly to Milford. If you do would recommend travelling down the west coast and getting down to the Caitlins south of Dunedin for some good walks.
A jet boat ride on any of the rivers down there would be a highlight for an 18 year old as would a bungee jump -
@canefan said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
The Cape is a long way, a day trip by bus from Paihia
Get up and drive there for sunrise, much quicker and great views - bloody cold on the walk down though and you're possibly going to get to experience being in the middle of a cattle drive.
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@Bones said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
@canefan said in Help with a travel itinerary to NZ:
The Cape is a long way, a day trip by bus from Paihia
Get up and drive there for sunrise, much quicker and great views - bloody cold on the walk down though and you're possibly going to get to experience being in the middle of a cattle drive.
Have you driven to the cape from Paihia in a day? How long did it take? Do you have to drive on the beach? Is it an easy drive?
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Cape Reinga is about 2.5 hours from Paihia. So do-able 90 mile beach is a state highway but I wouldn't recommend it unless you are used to it. Not sure of the rental companies policies either.
One option would be to spend two nights in Mangonui, then you could do the Cape Properly. Spirits Bay is awesome. Lots of little side trip off the main road that you can with the extra time available by starting of 40 minutes closer to the Cape. Plus IMO Paihia is one of the shittiest tourist towns in NZ
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@nonpartizan A meat pie. There are plenty of varieties from standard mince and cheese to gourmet flavours.
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@nonpartizan That would be the tightest of tight budgets
