PLANNING OUR TRIP THROUGH NEW ZEALAND – PART II OF II: NORTH ISLAND

This is part two of our New Zealand planning series. You can read the first part of the series here.

OUR NORTH ISLAND ITINERARY: WELLINGTON – ROTORUA – COROMANDEL

To plan out our North Island itinerary, we started by identifying the key sites and areas that we wanted to see, and then built our route around them while attempting to minimize long car days. We spent three nights in each place, which meant that we had two full days of exploring for every one travel day.

If we were to do it again, we would likely opt to spend more time in the Coromandel and less in Rotorua, which was our least favourite stop in New Zealand.

OUR TRIP

Ferry Transfer from South Island to North Island

If you’re planning on travelling between the North and South Islands of New Zealand by car ferry, make sure you book your tickets well in advance. There are only two ferry companies that service this route, and many of the most popular departure times sell out weeks in advance. We were lucky to snag tickets on the Interislander for one of our preferred sailings, and overall we found the service fairly well run. We arrived about an hour before our departure time, followed the well-marked signs to the check-in desk, then pulled our car up into their holding lot to wait to board the ship. Shortly before our departure time, the Interislander staff directed all the cars onto the ship line by line and then assigned each car a specific spot. Once parked, we were told to vacate our cars and head into the ship’s interior for the duration of the trip.

Even on a fairly calm day, our ferry transfer from the South Island to the North Island was quite choppy, so if you are the sort of person that gets seasick be sure to stock up on some Gravol (or your local equivalent) before you depart. Even walking to the cafe or washroom on this ship was a challenge due to the motion of the waves. Unfortunately, the rough seas also meant that the outdoor observation decks were closed while we crossed the Cook Strait. We hear that there are some pretty epic views on this journey, but unfortunately with the observation decks closed and very few window seats available, we were relegated to the interior of the ship and missed out on the scenery.

Also, while the ferry was advertised as having a cinema and playground on board, both were closed during our sailing, which was a bit of a disappointment. In all, the dining and entertainment services available on the ship were a bit of a let-down based on what had been advertised, but luckily it was a short trip and we managed just fine with the limited options that were available.

Our ship arrived in Wellington on time, and after returning to our car, we only waited a few minutes before being directed to disembark. We then rolled right off the ship and onto the highway for a very short drive to our Airbnb.

Upon our arrival in Wellington, we very much benefited from an Airbnb that was proximate to both the ferry terminal and to the city centre. The flat was very comfortable and had some great views of the ships coming in from every window. It was located in a more industrial area near the highway, but also close enough to the city centre that we were able to park our car in the space provided and just leave it for the three nights we spent there, which was perfect for us as a family that prefers to walk.

While we really wanted to love Wellington, and by all means it was a very pleasant place, it did not tug at our hearts the way we thought it might. We spent most of our time wandering through the city and along the harbour, and found it very pleasant but ultimately not as charming as we’d hoped.

During our stay in Wellington, we spent a morning ambling through the botanic garden, which we accessed via the Wellington Cable Car. If we were to do it again we might just skip the cable car and walk up, as the ride was very short and not particularly scenic, and the kids were underwhelmed. There was, however, a great playground at the top of the botanic gardens that the kids loved, so their disappointment in the cable car ride was very short-lived.

We also spent a few hours touring the Museum of New Zealand, which had some fantastic exhibits, with many life-sized artefacts, interactive displays, and even a giant whale heart that our kids could walk through. This was one of the highlights of our stay in Wellington, and as a bonus, entrance to the museum was free!

Rotorua

We left our Airbnb in Wellington fairly early in the morning on the day of our departure, given that our trip north to Rotorua was set to be one of the longest days of driving during our time in New Zealand (approximately 5.5 hours without stops).

We had initially planned to stop at or near Tongariro National Park for a day or two both to break up the drive and to do some hiking, but unfortunately we did not have the time. Perhaps we made the wrong choice on this, as in retrospect our time may have been better spent in Tongariro than in Rotorua.

Upon arrival at our Airbnb in Rotorua, we were immediately struck by the smell of sulphur in the air — a byproduct of the thermal activity in the area. We are honestly not sure how anybody lives here full-time, as it got tiresome after three days.

While the thermal pools in Rotorua were very cool to see — we explored them during our walk through Kuirau Park, over to Sulphur Point, and along the geothermal walking track — for our family spending three days here was too long. Aside from the thermal pools and a lovely hike through the magnificent redwoods at Whakarewarewa Forest, the town and the local attractions felt too commercialized for our taste. Knowing what we know now, we probably would have chosen to do a short afternoon pit stop in Rotorua on our way to the Coromandel as opposed to staying there as long as we did.

One thing Rotorua did have going for it, though, was its proximity to one of the most quintessential tourist attractions in New Zealand: the Hobbiton Movie Set Tours. We didn’t have the foresight to book tickets to Hobbiton far enough in advance, and so by the time we arrived in Rotorua tickets were sold out for the days we wanted to visit. Thankfully, we got incredibly lucky and managed to snag some last-minute cancellation tickets for our last day there, so we were able to stop in on our way from Rotorua to Coromandel.

While we generally tend to prefer natural wonders to tourist attractions, and usually try to avoid anything overly touristy, we were very impressed by the Hobbiton tour and would highly recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of the Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movies. Our tour guide was fantastic, and we had a ton of fun exploring the Shire, enjoying the beautiful views across the rolling green countryside, and taking photos peeking out of the Hobbit holes. We even got to tour the impeccably crafted interior of a Hobbit house (a brand new part of the attraction, opened only a few weeks before we arrived) and have a pint at the Green Dragon pub at the end of the tour. It was the perfect way to break up our drive to the Coromandel.

Wyuna Bay (Coromandel)

While most of the scenery we were able to see in the North Island paled in comparison to that of the South Island, one exception to this for us was the Coromandel region.

We left Rotorua fairly early in the morning and after our stop in Hobbiton, we still had three hours to drive to get to our Airbnb, which was conveniently situated just across the bay from Coromandel and had magnificent views over the water and a very quiet sand beach.

The drive in was magnificent, following what became a fairly narrow main road that tracked the Firth of Thames on the left and lush mountains on the right. While at times the roads seemed treacherously narrow to us North Americans, especially around the corners and along the sheer cliff edges (with only about six inches of clearance from the road and no guard rails), we did get used to it and the drive is completely doable. And the views over the valley and the ocean from elevation as you turn towards Coromandel are spectacular (humming or whistling Lord of the Rings themes is optional).

We spent our time here enjoying the views and really just trying to relax after such a busy trip through New Zealand.

Some General Thoughts

After our travels through New Zealand, we’ve drawn a couple of conclusions.

The first is that driving across a country is exhausting for all involved — drivers, navigators, and kids — especially when the drives are so challenging. This amount of movement took a lot of energy.

That being said, in our minds, the energy it takes to drive from location to location is still significantly less than what it takes to jump on a flight of any length. Between having to wait in airports, carry luggage (for you and your kids), deal with airlines, figure out logistics on the other end, and manage flight delays, cancellations, and lost luggage, flying is infinitely more tiring.

The second conclusion is that we need to come back to New Zealand. We don’t know when we will next have the opportunity to do so, given the distance from our home in Canada, but we would truly love to return with our kids (currently 5 and 7). There are so many regions that we would love to explore, including Auckland, the far northern reaches up near Kerikeri, and Marlborough to name a few, and there are thousands of tramps through the woods that we still need to do.

We absolutely fell in love with the country — it truly is one of the most incredibly beautiful places on earth — and while we managed to see a lot in the three weeks we were there, we have no doubt that we could spend months or even years there without ever having our fill.