North Island, New Zealand

A brief description of our self-drive trip to the North Island of New Zealand:

- Duration: 7 nights, from 5-12 December 2005. It was in effect a 6-days holiday since we arrived after midnight on the first day and took an early morning flight out on the last.

- Itinerary: Wellington (1) - Napier (2) - Taupo - Rotorua (2) - Whitianga (1) - Auckland (1). It was a south-to-north trip along the North Island.

- Transportation: Rental car. Excellent driving conditions. Road signs were clear and destinations easy to find.

- Weather: Late spring to early summer, but unlike the South Island, weather conditions in the North Island during this time of the year were generally fine and stable.

- Reference sites: We didn't use any one site extensively. Instead, we googled and located the bits of information we needed. Two good starting points: Tourism New Zealand; AA New Zealand Travel Guide.

- Bookings: We flied Pacific Blue from and back to Brisbane, rented a car through Europcar (a partner of Virgin Blue/Pacific Blue), and used Wotif.com to book all accommodations.

Let's start the photo journey! Follow the sequence or pick any destination you like from the links below.

We toured the South Island at more or less the same time in 2004: