Today I want to share my New Zealand trip itinerary for the North Island with you. This part of the country is packed with beautiful coastline, great cities, natural wonders, and more.
New Zealand Trip Itinerary for the North Island
As part of my round-the-world trip, I arrived in New Zealand on January 2nd. My boyfriend and I rented a car in Auckland, excited to spend a week driving around the North Island.
Coromandel Peninsula
Our New Zealand trip itinerary for the North Island began as we drove straight from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula.
The scenery was spectacular. We saw beautiful coastline, rolling hills, farmland, and lots of small towns along the way. We even got chased down a hill by a gigantic sheep!
We stopped in Thames and Coromandel before taking the 309 road, a one-lane gravel shortcut, to Hahei. On the way we came across two adorable hedgehogs and a possum, all of which I was tempted to bring along with us.
We stayed in a cute B&B in Hahei and went to Hot Water Beach in the morning. As the name implies, there’s hot water beneath the surface of the sand.
During low tide you can dig pools to make your own hot tub. Luckily for us someone had already dug and deserted a perfect tub, so we took it over and enjoyed a bath before heading south for Tauranga.
Tauranga, New Zealand
After stops in Whangamata and Katikati, our New Zealand trip itinerary for the North Island continued as we arrived in Tauranga with enough time to go hiking to Kaite Falls and drive through more pastoral farmland before dark.
The next morning we hiked around Mount Manganui where we saw adorable baby birds and lots of sea creatures in the tide pools.
Rotorua, New Zealand
Back on the road, our New Zealand trip itinerary for the North Island took us to the geothermal epicenter of Rotorua.
We checked into our B&B in nearby Ngongotaha and headed straight for the Kiwi Encounter as soon as our bags were down.
We immediately fell in love with the adorable endangered birds, and were able to see some one and two-day-old kiwis in the nursery.
We made our way through Rotorua, exploring the hot geothermal pools and boiling mud ponds as well as some beautiful parks and a small zoo. My list of animals I wanted to take home with me was growing steadily.
Napier, New Zealand
The next stop on our New Zealand North Island trip itinerary was Napier. We visited three wineries in the Hawkes Bay area for a little wine tasting before checking into our hotel downtown.
Napier is known for its great Art Deco architecture, so we walked around the city and hit up the aquarium, where they randomly had more kiwis.
Tongariro National Park
From Napier our itinerary took us up to Tongariro National Park, the site where much of the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed.
We went on a great hike up to the Taranaki Falls, soaking up the scenery and the great views of ‘Mordor’.
The next morning we stopped for another amazing hike in Ohinetonga before driving to Waitomo to see the glowworm caves.
Waitomo, New Zealand
Waitomo was a great stopping point on our New Zealand trip itinerary for the North Island on our way back up to Auckland. The caves were beautiful and the glowworms fun to see in the dark (in the light they’re rather creepy-looking).
We stayed in a B&B in Waitomo with great views of the surrounding area and found a restaurant nearby where we feasted on roasted vegetables and the famous New Zealand pavlova for dessert.
Auckland, New Zealand
The final stop on our New Zealand itinerary was Auckland. Unfortunately it was raining, but we made the most of the weather and spent time exploring bookstores and eating great seafood.
New Zealand Trip Itinerary for the North Island
We waved good-bye to New Zealand with heavy hearts yesterday morning and flew to Hong Kong.
Sadly, some genius on the flight before ours had flushed a bag down the toilet so our flight to Hong Kong was delayed an hour and a half and we missed our connection to Tokyo. But more on that later.
In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this New Zealand trip itinerary for the North Island and that it’s inspired you to travel here someday. I’m sure you’ll love it when you do.
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