New Zealand - North Island
What an incredible country! This should be on everyone’s travel bucket list! The scenery is beautiful, and the people are so kind. We covered a lot of ground in 2 weeks. Next trip we won’t focus on hitting every stop along the way. It was a lot of fun, but exhausting. Instead, we’ll pick a couple places a spend a few days at each. I’ve outlined what we did on our trip including things we wouldn’t recommend and things we wished we had done. The first week we were on the North Island, which is what you will find here. We started in Auckland and drove all the way to Wellington (something we don’t recommend doing in 2 days…). Our second week was spent on the South Island, flying into Queenstown, and renting a campervan from there. You can find that leg of the trip HERE.
Auckland
Cornwall Park was a beautiful way to spend our first morning walking off our jet lag. There were plenty of paved walkways, sheep, and great views.
We spent some time at the Art Museum in town but we found the city to be extremely crowded and congested. If you stay in Auckland we would advise against a rental car. We were also there during orientation for one of the universities and a big sports tournament was going on. We planned to spend more time there but we couldn’t get away from the crowds or find parking so we left early.
Next time: We may skip Auckland next time. Pasifika Fest looks like something we would go back for. If we do go back, we’ll spend more time exploring outside the city rather in the city center.
Raglan
What an awesome town we stumbled on! We were getting hungry and wanted to picnic with a view. This was the next town with a beach, so we stopped. We grabbed some meat pies from town and headed to this spot with one of the longest left hand surf breaks in the world. We considered renting wetsuits and boards, but we didn’t have a enough time. We still loved our quick stop and enjoyed watching the surfers.
Next time: We would love to spend at least 3 days here. It’s a cute, kind of sleepy beach town (our impression from all of an hour and a half). Both of us love to surf and it was killing us just getting a glimpse of this place. Definitely on our list of must stop places next time.
Hamilton
We booked an Airbnb in Hamilton because it was close-ish to Waitomo, where we were headed the next day. We had a fantastic meal at Good George Brewery, deer with duck fat potatoes. It used to be a church that they converted into a brewery. The atmosphere was fun and the food and beer was great. We would highly recommend making a stop here if you’re in Hamilton. We spent the next hour or so wandering around the downtown area. It’s got a funky art vibe, but considering it is home of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, you would expect that. And yes, I did the Time Warp when we found the statue of Riff Raff.
Next time: Hamilton is known for its hot air balloon festival. We did get to see a couple balloons, but an entire festival of them would be nuts! It’s a cute town but we probably wouldn’t come back unless it was for the festival.
Waitomo
Next stop was Waitomo for Black Water Rafting to see the glow worms. This was an incredible experience! We put on wetsuits and traversed into caves with rubber inner tubes and helmets. It was a very leisurely tour and the guide made sure we were comfortable at all times. I’m not a fan of tight spaces or caves, but this was something we didn’t want to miss. You spend your time either floating on the tubes or walking through ankle to just above the knee deep water (I’m 5’ 4’’ just to give an idea of the depth). We did have the opportunity to squeeze through a few cracks but this was optional. It was an amazing experience and we were in awe the entire time. We highly recommend making a special trip to see the glow worms.
Next time: We probably won’t come here again. It was amazing, and we were mesmerized by the glow worms, but there is so much to do in New Zealand we feel like we only need to do this once.
Tongariro
Oh man were we bummed we only spent one day here! We booked a funky Airbnb on a sustainable farm. This was intended as just a place to sleep before we hit the road again, but it was fantastic. The scenery driving in was amazing. Huge mountains and a beautiful blue lake. The farm was run by WOOFers, so we got to meet people from all over the world. The woman who owned the farm is Maori and was very kind to share some of her knowledge and stories with us.
We intended to hike part of the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing but the weather was not in our favor so we decided to move on. On our drive out we did get a good view of the mountain. It was used as Mt Doom in The Lord of the Rings film. Can’t you see the glowing eye just above the mountain top?!
Next time: We will spend a couple days here for sure! We would have loved to do some hiking, spent time on the lake, and chilled out in the thermal pools. It’s a beautiful area not to be missed!
Wellington
Ah “Windy Welly”! We LOVED this city. It was rainy and overcast the entire time we were there but it was still great. Arthur has family here, so we spent a couple days hanging out. Fish and chips spots were everywhere, so your girl was happy!
Places not to miss:
Titahi Bay - This was the first time either of us saw the Tasman Sea. There a colorful boat houses lining the shore and you can drive on the beach. We had a lovely fish and chips picnic with Arthur’s family here. It’s a great spot for a picnic and to just relax.
Wellington Botanic Garden - You could probably spend an entire day exploring the garden. We spent the better half of an afternoon just wandering around and admiring the colorful flowers. It’s a popular spot and has a playground for kids in one area, but we were still able to find a couple peaceful benches. Ride the cable car to top to get an awesome view of the city and to avoid the uphill trek on foot. Trust me, you don’t want to walk!
Te Papa Museum - We didn’t explore the entire museum, we were mainly interested in the Maori exhibit. It was free to get in and very educational. If you are at all interested in the Maori culture, you should make a stop here.
Cuba Street - Funky little street with lots of things going on. Great food, great beer, fun street art. Even the walk signs at the cross walks are salsa dancers. We came during the day, but we heard this street has quit the night life!
Ferg’s Kayak - located on the water, they are a climbing gym that also rent kayaks and does tours. We were stoked to come across this place, because like I said, it rained the majority of our time in the city, so we were pretty happy to find a climbing gym we could get a little exercise. We went way too hard and had finger cramps for daysssss. We’ll be back for sure!
Rugby! - We got to see the Hurricanes and Highlanders go head to head. It wasn’t a big game but it was still a lot of fun. We highly recommend going to see a game if you have the opportunity.
Food/Beer
Rogue & Vagabond - We had an AMAZING cuban sandwich (I mean they’re located on Cuba street, so you would expect it to be top notch…) They also had an awesome selection of New Zealand beer. We love trying local beer wherever we go, so this was our spot!
Fork & Brewer - another place with an awesome beer selection! They had 40 beers on tap and some pretty decent fries.
La Boca Loca - Delicious Mexican food and margaritas. A little outside the downtown area, but if you need your chips and guac fix, it’s worth it.
Next time: There is so much to do in Wellington, we really hope we get a chance to go back. Next time we’ll definitely check out Weta Workshop, Bird Island, and ride the Ferry to the South Island.
cape palliser
Seals! Seals! And more seals! Arthur’s relatives took us out here and we were so grateful they took the time to do so. It was a bit of a drive from Wellington but in my opinion, it was worth it. Mind you, I love wildlife, so those of you who aren’t such fans, this might not be something you do. The view was amazing the seals were so much fun to watch. We were there when the pups were still hanging out with their moms. It was a bit smelly but SO COOL!
Have you traveled the North Island of New Zealand? What were your favorite activities?