Don't worry Be Kiwi: Road trip Auckland

Hi there,

I’m coming back with a post about our 1 week trip around the North Island of NZ.

I always wanted to travel the whole country first and then continue more into Asia which was one of reasons why NZ has been chosen as a place to be. You know, naturally people tend to be interested in places far, sometimes missing a lot just around the corner.

Fortunately, we had another good motivation to pack and go: my best friend Alina has arrived from Norway to Auckland for 3 weeks before a start of her year in Dunedin where lucky girl will be doing a 6 months exchange.

Finally, simple as it is, Boris and I took a week off from work, packed dogs and headed to Wellington.

Below is a map of our journey and a short description of places we saw, and OF COURSE a lot of pictures. Enjoy like we did!

The original route was: Auckland, Hamilton, Mt Maunganui, Tauranga, Rotorua (x), Taupo, Napier (x), Hastings, Havelock North, Norswood, Dannevirke, Palmerson North (x), Masterton, Castlepoint, Lower Hutt (x), Wellington, Levin, Whanganui (x), New Plymouth, Auckland. I also wanted to see Gisborne, but it was too off the route, and we decided to call it next time.

Auckland-Wellington is red on the map above, and return is in blue. Sleepovers are marked as (x) and circled on the picture.

A good start of any trip is a proper preparation. As a part of my job I read online through tripadvisor and lonelyplanet to hit on must-sees and "must-eats". We had a rough plan of dates vs. places or better to say where approximately to stop for nights. Despite of that, we willfully didn't book anything in advance but called places a few hours before arriving instead. Main reason was our zero experience with that kind of long trips, thus i didn't feel confident we would stick to the plan.

Also travelling with dogs I was not sure we would find a place to sleep. We even took blankets and a tent!

It worked all perfect in the end. Stayed in motels, never paid more than 100$ for three adults and 2 dogs. Absolutely satisfied with money/value.

Good web page for pet friendly accommodation: http://www.wotif.com/

Speaking ahead, in case you won't be bothered to finish the post, we spent 6 days and drove 2000 km return. Pure joy!

The first stop was in Hamilton and Hamilton Gardens. The town itself didn't impress me much previously, so we went to the gardens straight. The Gardens are divided into two sections basically. One, less cultivated kind of, is dog friendly (dogs on a leash). The area is seasonal meaning you have to be lucky to see certain parts in bloom. That time we got to enjoy the Rose Garden even though its "relative" in Auckland at Parnell was blooming a good while ago. Unfortunately, magnolias were not even near to show their full beauty.

The second part, thematic gardens, was strictly no dogs, and we left babes in the car.

American themed garden

Italian garden. I loved it the most.

Indian garden. Was extremely beautiful and stylish.

Chinese garden

I wouldn't say we were very much impressed with Hamilton Gardens, but it is something to visit if you driving past Hamilton. I guess.

On the way from Hamilton to Tauranga we came across a big market in Cambridge and immediately did my part of compulsory shopping: a colorful glass/cement dish, a cement yorkie and a stuffed dog. Yay!

Didn't buy those, but so gonna duplicate the pictures one day. Love the simple idea!

The second official stop was Tauranga and Mt Maunganui which I thought was one place. Nope, two separate towns.

Tauranga is a lovely town down South from Auckland. One of our dogs, Malina (the white maltese) and a new big freezer have come from there before. It's not often i fall into small places but Tauranga is my absolute fav, and I'm already making my plans to retire there breading dogs..

Well, it's a very resort-like place with lots of youngsters outside.

Apart from looking "young" and sunny (they say there is more sunny days in Tauranga than in Auckland), Tauranga is one of NZ main centers for business and international trade. Actually, it doesn't look big and international, and a few Russians living there do complain to be constantly bored BUT land is cheaper there compared to Auckland, uhhh.

Tauranga has a population of more than 100K. About 17% of which is 65+ years old. This figure is about 5% higher than in NZ on average. Somebody was definitely wrong to call it "young" :(

A view from Mt Maunganui

One new famous place in Tauranga we were keen to check was Bobbys Fresh Fish market.

1 Dive Cres Tauranga

Well, if you love Fish-n-Chips and are keen to gain another 10 kilos in a few weeks, I recommend. Otherwise, stay away. Far, far away. Seriously, NZ, you have no understanding of what healthy tasty food is?

Full and feeling extremely heavy after lunching at Bobbys we headed to Rotorua.

Here I have to say that I never particularly liked Rotorua for no big reason, but this time a glimpse of a starting affection was noticed between the two of us.

I was kind of sure, Rotorua is big until I saw its population is twice smaller than of Tauranga. The town is famous for 'rotten eggs smell" which comes from numerous hydrogen sulphide emissions. Rotorua is a well-known geothermal area, and you will see geysers and mud pools literally all around the place.

Speaking about "the smell", they also call Rotorua a rotten-rua or a Sulfur City. Fair enough.

Government Gardens and the Rotorua Museum of Art and History. The Gardens are lovely!

One of natural hot baths in a local park.

Polynesian Spa is a place to experience. If I'm not mistaken, it's in Top 10 NZ spas. Located at the Government Gardens, open till 11 pm. (last entry at 10.15 pm), makes it a perfect ending of a busy touristic day.

Entry is 25$/adult for Adult Pools and Priest spa. You can also book a private pool for extra $, but i personally see no need unless you can't stand many Chinese at one place. Yes, it's 99% Chinese :) They also sing Chinese songs there while bathing which i find cute.
http://www.polynesianspa.co.nz/polynesianspa/adult-pool-and-priest-spa/

The place has a stupid lockers system, so I recommend to take no valuables with. Should reserve 1.5-2 hours.

Silver Oaks Motel is a place where we like to stay in Rotorua. It's nothing fancy but clean, dog friendly by arrangement and seems like price per night could be negotiated. I really like this place! pictures below give a general idea what motels in NZ look like.

http://www.regalgeyserland.co.nz/hotels/heritageinn/index.html349 Fenton Street, Rotorua