Having just got back from a trip to New Zealand, during which we spent time in both North & South Islands, this first of two articles contains a few observations that may be of use to people who are looking to visit there, either for the first time or to areas that they have not already seen.
We flew into Auckland, arriving at night. Our travel agent had booked us a small hire car through Nationwide Hire Cars also known as Ezi-rent. We phoned the car rental company representative, who picked us up promptly, took us to the motel the company operated from after hours, handed the car over quickly & gave us a good briefing.
Tip 1 - If you have a camera it is a good idea to take photos of various aspects of your rental vehicle to avoid any disputes later about damage caused during your rental. (We did not have any problems, but if the rental company sees you taking photos they are more careful when completing the handover documents!)
However, our travel agent had booked us into a hotel on the north of Auckland. As it was night when we arrived, getting to the hotel was a nightmare, with Auckland's motorways resembling spaghetti junction & signposting poor.
Tip 2 - If you arrive at night in a strange town to pick up a rental vehicle, make sure your travel agent books you into accommodation near the vehicle pick-up point or that you have good maps!
Having no interest in cities, we got out of Auckland quickly the next day & explored part of the northern area, going up the east coast to Warkworth & returning via the west coast. We did not have time to go right up to the Bay of Islands. The bit we covered did not strike us as very interesting, although there were some pretty spots on the East coast, so we continued back south through Auckland & headed to the Coromandel Peninsular. The drive to Thames at the start of the Peninsular was through flat country & quite boring.
Tip 3 - I'd recommend to anyone wanting to get to the Coromandel Peninsular that they get a ferry over from Auckland as it would be more scenic than driving.
We explored the Peninsular up the West coast & down the East. There were some lovely views around the Peninsular, particularly on the North-West coast and some pleasant golf courses.
After that, we headed for Hobbitton ( Matamata) where we found it cost $58 each for a tour of the set used for the Hobbit village in Lord of the Rings, followed by a shearing demo. We felt this was a complete rip off, as as we weren't interested in sheep shearing, having seen plenty of that. We also read that the set was gutted and being prepared for the next Hobbit film, so we didn't bother going in & headed straight off to Rotoroua where we spent the night. We avoided the tourist traps of geyser parks and mud pools by walking the park near the hospital to see for free the steam vents & mud pools there, which were quite interesting but smelly, as you would expect.
Our next stop was Lake Taupo, which we explored briefly before setting off for Waiouru & the NZ Army Museum. The trip around the lake was quite scenic, but plagued by roadworks & the trip across the moors, used by the army for training, very scenic & Scottish looking with heather and dour, cloudy conditions. The Museum was excellent and there was a golf course in town, but it was raining, so we passed on a game.
We then pushed on to Palmerston North, but overnighted in a little place called Bulls – very homely & with quaint signposts, eg the library was signposted 'read-a-bull', the butcher 'eat-a-bull' etc.
The next day we continued to Wellington, where we found the drop off point for the hire car without difficulty, thanks to excellent written directions from our hire car company. The next day we walked around the Botanic Gardens, which were not particularly spectacular, but that was probably just the time of year. We also visited the Te Papa Museum, which was excellent, particularly the Maori exhibit.
Tip 4 - If you can talk to locals or backpackers who have visited a place before you get there, do so, as it may save you a journey and disappointment.
My next article will continue with our journey to the South Island of New Zealand.
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