North Island Travel Guides
Adventure beckons throughout New Zealand’s North Island, and unique scenery awaits. In subtropical Northland proud forests of majestic kauri trees, some thousands of years old, share space with remnants of its gum digging past. Gnarled pohutukawa cling to windswept cliffs over golden beaches, and green rolling hills of farmland span across the island from coast to coast. Although the North Island’s land mass is smaller than that of the South Island, it boasts a longer coastline with hundreds of deep tranquil harbours, estuaries and inlets with sheltered, sandy bays providing safe anchorage for boats.
Thermal activity abounds: there’s Rotorua, a hotbed of fiery fury with its boiling mud pools, geysers, springs and spas; White Island, an active volcano in the Bay of Plenty; and volcanic Auckland whose 50 or so ‘hills’ are also the result of volcanic activity. Hot springs are dotted throughout the North Island and one of the country’s most unique experiences is to dig your own warm spa in the sand at Te Puia Springs in Kawhia, or at the Coromandel Peninsula’s aptly named Hot Water Beach.
At the heart of the North Island lie the crystal-clear waters of Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake, itself a huge volcanic crater fed by the mountains of the Central Plateau. These formidable mountains - Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu - are encircled by dry, desert like plains that contrast dramatically with the surrounding fertile farmlands. To the west a bulbous coastline horseshoes around Mt Taranaki, while to the east lies the seldom- explored East Cape. Hidden beneath hills beside the Wellington Harbour, also formed by volcanic eruption and now filled with sea, the capital city of Wellington is the departure point to the magnificent South Island.
Auckland to Bay of Islands Travel Guide
Rich in history and culture, Northland’s sub-tropical coastline features kilometres of golden beaches, giant sand dunes, tranquil harbours, a myriad of islands and large tracts of ancient kauri forest to explore...
Read the full Auckland to the Bay of Islands travel guide.
Cape Reinga & Far North Travel Guide
Cape Reinga is a place of great spiritual significance to Maori. They believe it is “the place of the leaping”, where the souls of the dead gather before they enter the next world. According to Maori traditions the spirits of the departed leap from an 800-year-old pohutukawa tree on the windswept cape to begin the voyage back to their final resting place in the ancestral homeland of Hawaiki...
Read the full Cape Reinga & Far North travel guide.
Auckland's West Coast Beaches Travel Guide
Well-known for its wineries, gannets, black sands and dramatic scenery, the West Coast of Auckland offers visitors the opportunity to see another side of the City of Sails. The Waitakere Ranges dominate this region and were formed by a series of volcanic eruptions...
Read the full Auckland's West Coast Beaches travel guide.
Waiheke Island Travel Guide
Famous for its wine, arts and laid-back atmosphere, Waiheke Island offers hundreds of safe, sheltered beaches and rocky coves - perfect for swimming and snorkelling - only 30-minutes by ferry from Auckland’s CBD...
Read the full Waiheke Island travel guide.
Auckland to Whakatane & Bay of Plenty Travel Guide
The Coromandel Peninsula is one of NZ’s most-loved holiday destinations. Its spectacular coastline provides a mix of sandy bays and rocky coves, while the rugged, volcanic backbone is cloaked in a dense robe of native forest and boasts some of NZ’s best hiking...
Read the full Auckland to Whakatane & Bay of Plenty travel guide.
East Cape & Poverty Bay Travel Guide
The road around the East Cape, which begins its journey in Opotiki and travels around a seemingly endless necklace of picturesque bays to Gisborne, is a unique, seldom seen part of NZ with its own distinctive style and personality...
Read the full East Cape & Poverty Bay travel guide.
Whakatane to Hawkes Bay Travel Guide
Set amidst jewel-like crater lakes, Rotorua offers stunning, contrasting scenery in an active volcanic wonderland of spouting geysers, bubbling mud pools, fumaroles and natural thermal springs and spas. Further south, New Zealand’s largest lake, Lake Taupo, is fed by sparkling ice-melt from the mountains of the Tongariro National Park...
Read the full Whakatane to Hawkes Bay travel guide.
Rotorua Action Travel Guide
As well as cultural attractions and activities, Rotorua is a hot spot for adventurous -if not downright wacky -entertainment. From having a ball in a Zorb to flying with Freefall Xtreme there are any number of ways to indulge in extreme sports...
Read the full Rotorua Action travel guide.
Napier - Hawkes Bay to Wellington Travel Guide
Located on the east coast of the North Island, Hawke’s Bay is one of NZ’s premier food, wine and lifestyle destinations. Home to NZ’s oldest operational winery it’s also the largest red wine producing region in the country...
Read the full Napier - Hawkes Bay to Wellington travel guide.
Wairarapa & Martinborough Travel Guide
The scenery of the southern Wairarapa is ruggedly dramatic: rolling tablelands end abruptly and form high textured cliffs which plummet to meet the seaweed and driftwood-strewn coastline; the Rimutaka Ranges cast shadows over the shimmering expanse of Lake Wairarapa; and to the north the Tararua Ranges tower over fertile plains...
Read the full Wairarapa & Martinborough travel guide.
Wellington to New Plymouth Travel Guide
Fifty minutes’ drive north of Wellington, the Kapiti Coast is well known for its exceptional cheese and unique flora and fauna. Many of New Zealand’s most endangered birds reside on this coastline which leads north to Wanganui, a historic riverboat town...
Read the full Wellington to New Plymouth travel guide.
New Plymouth to Auckland Travel Guide
The Forgotten Highway threads its way from Taranaki through forests of beech and small villages (including the unique ‘republic’ of Whangamomona) to Taumarunui, located in the foothills of the Tongariro National Park...
Read the full New Plymouth to Auckland travel guide.