We will be flying in to Auckland in Nov, as part of a longer period of travels- mainly going there to visit family and don\'t have a massive budget. -travel (trains/car hire) seems quite expensive -almost UK prices there! Will be in the North Island for about 17days I think.
We\'re looking for any ideas on where would be best to go around Auckland area. We\'ve been looking at possibly going down as far as National Park- but prob can\'t afford much more travel! Would like to see some of the best scenery in the area; possibly any good places to see New Zealand wildlife-sancturies or just good places to spot.
What are the other towns like within a days driving of Auckland?-any worth a visit?
Any ideas would be great really!
Thanks,
Helen and Nick
Reply to this Hello Helen and Nick 😊
I moved this to the Oceania forum.
Mel
Reply to this You can get an Intercity bus pass that will take you all over NZ - I can't remember exactly the costs, but basically you pay in hours - so you load up the card with say 12 hours, and that gives you 12 hours of travel - most hostels can sort you out with a bus pass. I liked Intercity because the drivers give you info about the places you're passing through, and tell you when you're about to see a good view and stuff like that.
I would recommend going up to the Bay of Islands, north of Auckland - as far as I recall it's only a 4 or 5 hour bus trip up there - Paihia do some good dolphin spotting boat trips, and you can also visit the Waitangi centre there, which has some good history about European settlement in NZ and the impact it had on the indigenous peoples.
You can also go south to Rotorua from Auckland, this is also 4-5 hours - this is a geo-thermal region with some amazing places to visit, where you can see geysers etc. You can also visit Maori tribal villages there.
If you're up in the Bay of Islands, you can reach Rotorua from there in a day's travel - a bus will take you back to Auckland bus station where you can change buses and go to Rotorua.
I never looked into train travel, but I imagine the buses are cheaper - and you get to see so much more of the great scenery, they're nice drives between places, and the buses are comfy enough, and you stop off on the way for refreshment breaks.
Around Auckland itself, you can take a half-hour boat ride over to Rangitoto island, which is a volcanic island - you can do a good walk around there, and end up at a lookout which has really good views across the bay and Auckland city in the distance.
Reply to this Can't agree that car hire here is the same as UK prices. I'm planning a trip to Ireland next year and I'm gob-smacked at the UK/Eire prices when translated to $NZ. You can hire a good car here for $NZ25-30 a day on a 14 day hire. That's about 10 quid a day. If there's two of you, bus travel wil not be much cheaper and it is a lot more inconvenient. With a car you can go places you won't otherwise get to. You'd also be able to stay in the smaller off-track centres where accom is cheaper, and often more interesting.
As for things around Auckland, assuming you have a car: Take a drive along the Scenic Drive on the top of the Waitakere Ranges, go on to Muriwai Beach to see the gannet colony and walk of a wild ocean beach, visit the Auckland Museum for its Maori and Polynesian collections, have lunch out at Mission Bay (you won't need a car for either of these - catch the local bus, about $3 each). Take a ferry ride to Tiritiri Matangi Island where rare bird species are being re-established.
If you want to splash some cash jump off the Harbour Bridge or the Skytower.
spread out from there to Rotorua and the Bay of Islands.
Reply to this I'd usually recommend buying a cheap car, but 17 days isn't quite worth it. You really do need a car though, so hire one or borrow one if you can. Visit the Waitakere Ranges for some of the great walks out there - I liked Fairy Falls. There's a visitor centre there as well.
Rangitoto Island is worth a visit if you like volcanoes, otherwise catch the ferry to Waiheke Island.
I'd recommend the Coromandel Peninsula for a day trip or overnight, visit Hot Water Beach and Cathedral Cove (recently seen on Prince Caspian - when they arrive in Narnia the beach is Cathedral Cove - very nice).
Goat Island Marine reserve north of Auckland is worth a visit and a snorkel (and in November the weather should be nice enough too), and of course the Bay of Islands is fantastic.
If you want more ideas about how to travel on a budget in general, check out www.indietravelpodcast.com. We have a competition at the moment to win a Lonely Planet guidebook which could be useful!
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