New Zealand North Island Itinerary, Part 1

Day 1 (Feb 23)

Auckland International Airport

to

Whangarei Airport, Handforth Street, Whangarei Airport, Whangarei 0110

(90 mile connecting flight)

[ whangareiairport.co.nz ]

Whangarei Airport

to

Mainfreight 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.co.nz ]

Mainfreight Transport

to

Flames International Hotel, 8 Waverley St, Onerahi, Whangarei 0110

(4.3 mile ride)

Day 2 (Feb 24)

Flames International

to

Pacific Coast Kayaks, 66 Beach Road, Onerahi, Whangarei 0110

(1 mile walk at most – since we are nearby they will pick us up.)

[ http://www.nzseakayaking.co.nz ]

Day 3 (Feb 25)

Flames International

to

Beachstay 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

to

Mermaid 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.

[ https://nzfrenzynorth.wordpress.com/ ]

Day 5 (Feb 27)

Beachstay

to

Dive! 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

to

Whangarei Falls Backpacker – BBH, 12 Ngunguru Rd, Whangarei 0144

(15 miles)

[ http://www.bbh.co.nz/hd29/ … ]

Day 6 (Feb 28)

Whangarei Backpacker

to

the Waipu caves

(24 miles, with a couple of hard climbs near the end)

[ http://www.doc.govt.nz/ … ]

Waipu caves

to

Waipu 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

to

Countdown 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

to

Albert Court Motor Lodge, 29 Albert Street, Hamilton East, Hamilton 3216

(3 miles)

[ http://www.albertcourt.co.nz ]

Day 8 (Mar 2)

Spend most of the day at the Hamilton Gardens, Hungerford Crescent, Hamilton 3216

(0.5 mile)

[ http://www.hamiltongardens.co.nz ]

Cycle from Albert Court Lodge

to

Riverside 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

to

Hobbiton 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

to

Okoroire Hot Springs Hotel, 18 Somerville Road, Okoroire 3485

(12 miles)

[ http://www.okohotel.co.nz ]

Restaurant on-site, and hot springs nearby.