New Zealand North Island Itinerary, Part 1
January 14, 2015 Filed under Advice
Day 1 (Feb 23)
Auckland International Airport
toWhangarei Airport, Handforth Street, Whangarei Airport, Whangarei 0110
(90 mile connecting flight)
Whangarei Airport
toMainfreight Transport, 33 Fertilizer Rd, Port Whangarei, Whangarei 0110
(5 mile chartered shuttle, with packed bike boxes)
[ http://www.whangareibus.co.nz/wps-airport-shuttle.html ]
Unpack and assemble bikes here, fold up and compress boxes, mail boxes to destination hotel
Mainfreight Transport
toFlames International Hotel, 8 Waverley St, Onerahi, Whangarei 0110
(4.3 mile ride)
Day 2 (Feb 24)
Flames International
toPacific Coast Kayaks, 66 Beach Road, Onerahi, Whangarei 0110
(1 mile walk at most – since we are nearby they will pick us up.)
Day 3 (Feb 25)
Flames International
toBeachstay Matapouri, 7 Aspden Place, Matapouri Bay R D 3 0173
(30 miles)
[ http://www.beachstaymatapouri.co.nz/ ]
The route through the woods is more adventurous and scenic, and avoids the perilous Highway 1, but is also a lot more hilly, and mostly gravel road. We’ll probably have to go a mile or two on Highway 1 anyway.
Day 4 (Feb 26)
Beachstay
toMermaid Pool and back
(1 mile hike)
The pool is at GPS -35.559016,174.514303 and worth seeing, but the Matapouri beach itself is just as much of an attraction.
Day 5 (Feb 27)
Beachstay
toDive! Tutukaka, Poor Knights Dive Centre, Marina Road, Tutukaka 0173
(4.2 miles to the main office, where they will lock up our bikes.)
All-day kayaking or diving at the islands
[ http://diving.co.nz/go-diving/your-poor-knights-dive-day ]
Dive! Tutukaka
toWhangarei Falls Backpacker – BBH, 12 Ngunguru Rd, Whangarei 0144
(15 miles)
Day 6 (Feb 28)
Whangarei Backpacker
tothe Waipu caves
(24 miles, with a couple of hard climbs near the end)
Waipu caves
toWaipu Hotel, 4 S Rd, Waipu 0545
(7 miles, mostly downhill)
Elevation change for the full day:
Day 7 (Mar 1)
KeriKeri/Auckland shuttle stop by the Waipu Hotel
to“Hamilton – Central, New Zealand” shuttle stop
(150 miles – approx 70 to Auckland, 80 to Hamilton)
InterCity bus, Kerikeri/Auckland line ( GPS -35.984153,174.444582 ) boards in Waipu at 9:47am, 11:57am, or 3:07pm, exits in Hamilton after approximately 5 hours. Cost: $85.
[ https://www.intercity.co.nz/ … ]
Will probably need to catch the 9:47am in time to see Diesel.
Hamilton shuttle stop
toCountdown Hamilton Cnr Anglesea & Liverpool Streets Liverpool Street Hamilton 3204
(1 mile)
Diesel the cat is here! [ https://www.facebook.com/pages/ … ]
From Hamilton Countown store
toAlbert Court Motor Lodge, 29 Albert Street, Hamilton East, Hamilton 3216
(3 miles)
Day 8 (Mar 2)
Spend most of the day at the Hamilton Gardens, Hungerford Crescent, Hamilton 3216
(0.5 mile)
Cycle from Albert Court Lodge
toRiverside of Cambridge, 7 Williamson St, Cambridge 3434
(17 miles)
[ http://www.riversidemotel.co.nz ]
This puts us within easy reach of the Shire’s Rest farm tour.
Day 9 (Mar 3)
Riverside of Cambridge
toHobbiton Movie Set and Farm Tours, Buckland Road, Matamata
(17 miles)
[ http://www.hobbitontours.com ]
This is just one of those essential New Zealand things for us.
our is booked for 3:30pm, last of the day to get the late light, and plenty of time to cycle over.
Hobbiton Movie Set and Farm Tours, Buckland Road, Matamata
toOkoroire Hot Springs Hotel, 18 Somerville Road, Okoroire 3485
(12 miles)
Restaurant on-site, and hot springs nearby.