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What to do in the North Island?


bdspider

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I'm wanting to do a upper North Island road trip in late Nov/early Dec. Hopefully will have about 2 weeks of unstructured exploring, definitely wanting to go up through Northland, visit Auckland, Hamilton, Coromandel, BoP, Tauranga, Rotorua, Hawkes Bay, Napier and thereabouts.

Keen to know what's cool to do, especially sights that aren't in travel guides and don't have brochures at the iSites. I love going to zoos/reserves/bird parks/farm parks/wildlife rescues (as long as they're not too scummy and run down).

Will surely go to Auckland and Hamilton Zoos, Kelly Tarltons, Living Art's and Napier Aquarium. What else do you North Islanders recommend?

Edit: Oh and also I scuba dive and would love to do some, but gear is too heavy to bring... Might bring my wetsuit, if it's worth it. If you dive & know where I can borrow/hire gear & wanna do a swim with me, let me know :) :)

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in northland, especially in summer i would head to dargaville & go north up the west coast & see Tane Mahuta & the three sisters etc & go onto opononi & omapere. if your into massive sand dunes that is the place to be. carry on over the ferry at rawene & onto taipa, coopers beach & mangonui & down to kerikeri & paihia. it's a fantastic area of the country in summer, just be security conscious.

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I recommend Mount Bruce wildlife reserve in Tararua, I used to go there all the time as a kid and loved it, I presume (and hope) it's still as good.

The bridge to nowhere in the Wanganui national park is a great drive

Up here there's the Whangarei heads which I've always felt is my place, the stone store in Kerikeri, and the sand dunes in Opononi.

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If you like animal parks there's Ti Point Reptile Park near Leigh. Also in the area is Goat Island marine reserve for diving (gets really busy though at the weekends!)

I quite like Butterfly Creek as well (butterflies, fish and crocodiles :) )

And you should visit Odelia and myself if you have the time :D

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If you like animal parks there's Ti Point Reptile Park near Leigh. Also in the area is Goat Island marine reserve for diving (gets really busy though at the weekends!)

I quite like Butterfly Creek as well (butterflies, fish and crocodiles :) )

And you should visit Odelia and myself if you have the time :D

is that the Goat Island, out from Hahei beach? spent a few holidays there as a kid, never went diving unfortunately, snorkling was good though.

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National Aquarium sometimes dose dives in their tanks... sharks and rays

Do you like scallops?

Keep in touch as I have most dive gear (size dependant) at Coromandel...busy time of the year for me but you may be able to borrow the bach at Waitete Bay (google or search in Coromandel)

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is that the Goat Island, out from Hahei beach? spent a few holidays there as a kid, never went diving unfortunately, snorkling was good though.

Might be a different one - Hahei is in Coromandel eh? I'm talking about Goat Island north of Auckland by Leigh... snorkelling is cool though!

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Up here there's the Whangarei heads which I've always felt is my place,

i live there

If I don't get to dive, I could settle for snorkelling. I just looooove seeing what's under the waves. .

Dive tutukaka takes you out to the poor nights, top 5 or 10 in the world is it not?

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There's a bed available here if you would like one. The room has its own exit door so you can come and go as you please. We're also very central without being in the city. I also love Leigh so would be happy to take you up there for a day trip to snorkel. :D

At this stage I don't think we are going away over the holidays.

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There's the Urewera national park too, with many native birds species, native forest (love trees with thick mosses and lichens on theirs branches) and the beautiful lake Waikaremoana and Waikareiti (short and great walks).

And you can dive in fresh water ;)

lake_waikaremoana2_s.jpg

Panoramic shot :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lake_Waikaremoana.jpg

http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/national-parks/te-urewera/activities/

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