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North Island
Campervan Trip
STORY &
BY SUSIE WILLIAMS
Looking for some quality family time? Head out, explore this beautiful
country and soak up the family – best of all tick off some of the ‘to-do’ list.
November saw the Unlikely Kiwi family do
just that! Meeting our 6-berth campervan in
Auckland we headed off on a North Island
adventure for two weeks. After catching up
with some old mates in Auckland for the
night, we headed south with Waitomo Caves
in our sights.
open-mouthed, awe-struck and humbled
by the sheer majesty of nature. With clever
and innovative design, Ruakuri Cave has full
wheelchair and pushchair access.
We found an extremely quiet campground
for the night with access to a natural thermal
pool amongst the trees…ahh…this is the life!
Under the green hills of Waitomo lies
a labyrinth of caves, sinkholes and
underground rivers. The area's name comes
from the Maori words wai (water) and tomo
(hole).
Hobbiton was our next stop – yep – another
part of the ‘must do NZ list’ . Friends who
had previously been highly recommended
doing Hobbiton and advised doing the first
tour of the day. The best advice we could
have had! As we were the first tour….our
tour was slow and relaxing, taking in all the
fine details of the sets. The whole area was
more impressive than we had imagined. Our
children had never seen the Hobbit movies,
but they too were amazed with this place.
Drinking beer and cider at the Green Dragon
early in the morning seems a little wrong –
but was so right!!!
The scale of the Waitomo Caves is simply
awesome, the ‘cathedral’ was awe-inspiring,
especially when our Maori guide sang for us
in her beautiful voice. Silently floating down
the streams with a ceiling covered in glow
worms, making it appear as if the sky was
low and full of stars was mesmerizing.
Ruakuri Cave (a few minutes down the
road from the Waitomo Glow-worm Cave)
offers a captivating blend of Waitomo's
most compelling subterranean experiences.
Journey down through the spectacular
spiral entrance, and marvel at the softly
folding shawl-like limestone formations and
crystal tapestries. Hear the distant thunder
of the subterranean waterfalls and get up
close to the glow-worms. Ruakuri Cave is
New Zealand's longest guided underground
walking tour and an experience that must
be seen to be believed. It will leave you
Off to check out the thermal hub of the
North Island we set up camp in Rotorua.
Sitting within the Pacific Rim of Fire, Rotorua
is a geothermal wonderland with bubbling
mud pools, clouds of steam, and natural
hot springs perfect for bathing and relaxing
in. This is honestly one of those places you
could spend a week or more, so much to see
and do. Although we had visited before, we
couldn't resist the lure of the Rotorua Luge.
Hours of fun for kids and adults alike!
DISCOVER THE SPIRIT OF THE
MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS.
• Waterfront café/restaurant with
• Water view accommodation
• Day Trips from $60 with
Promo Code MMYES!
• Discover native birds, geckos and eels
tours and stingray feeding.
Freephone: 0800 562 462
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E: [email protected]
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Art shop and art trail to explore
Access to the Queen Charlotte Track
Indulge in our luxurious baths for two
Beach, hammocks, FREE kayaks
and paddle boards
• Safe swimming beach
www.lochmara.co.nz
Time for us to head further East. Off to the
beautiful Waihi Beach. This stunning coastal
village lies at the foot of the Coromandel
Peninsula. The main beach itself extends
approximately 10 kilometres. We settled
for a few days enjoying the beach life,
relaxing the days away. The Coromandel has
always been on our bucket list, so explore
we did. The drive through this region is
simply stunning. We dug our own thermal
hot tub at Hot Water Beach. We walked
the Coromandel Caves and the adjoining
beaches, simply stunning. Our time on the
Coromandel camped in our van was a mix of
freedom camping and DOC campsites. We
found this a great combination, giving us a
shower larger than our van occasionally!
North bound we aimed for the Bay of
Islands. How stunning. We had some rainy
days, but were happy to settle into van life,
grab a book, stay put and relax! We headed
out with Bay of Islands Parasail. Heights
not my thing but headed up 1300ft into
the air to get a bird’s eye view of the Bay
of Islands….just magical! As all visitors must
do, we had a day learning more about this
wonderful country’s history at Waitangi.
We did a Dolphin Discovery Experience
with the Explore Group. A 4-hour sail around
the Bay of Islands. We had a rare day with
no dolphin sightings, but the scenery was
worth the trip anyway! The good people at
Explore gave us all a free pass to return
and do the trip again…to hopefully view
and swim with the dolphins! To finish
our trip off we were determined to touch
the most northern point of New Zealand.
We spent a whole day with Explore upon
the Dune Rider – Cape Reinga. What a
fabulous day! We ticked off reaching the
most northern point of New Zealand…yay!
The views and feelings at the lighthouse at
Cape Reinga are pretty amazing. At Cape
Reinga, two oceans meet. To the west
and separating it from Australia (2000km
away) is the Tasman Sea. On the east is
the southern Pacific Ocean. The line at the
meeting of the seas, where the Tasman sea
meets the Pacific Ocean is clearly visible at
Cape Reinga. From here we travelled home
via the gorgeous 90-mile beach. Exploring
the remote Te Paki sand dunes, climbing
up them, and boogie boarding down was
sensational fun for both adults and children
alike. I think we could have easily spent an
entire day doing this!!
Book your Campervan trip now for
Spring and Summer, from Auckland -
[email protected]
as used by The Unlikely Kiwi.
Our drive down the beach was an unusual
one. The previous night, 12 rare Pygmy Orca
Whales had become beached and there
were rescue missions in progress. At one
location we stopped and helped give the
volunteers a short break by offering to carry
buckets of water from the low tide mark.
This unexpected excursion made the next
part of the journey a little quiet as all aboard
tried to process the frustrating and sad event
and our immense admiration and pride in
our people. Whales or no whales…this day
trip is one we truly recommend.
The North Island was a great experience.
It was different in many ways to the South
Island, and there is so much to explore. We
crossed many things off our to do list, but as
with all good travel….we have found many
more to head back and explore!
Campervan with the family – would I do it
again?? YES – in a heartbeat. Sure, there
were a few scratchy times with the close
quarters, but in general it was an awesome
family bonding time. We had a ball exploring
the country side, we had fun playing games
at night together, and we loved the freedom
of choosing where we would like to pull up
and sleep. Freedom camping, caravan parks
and DOC campsites, we did them all. Being
campers and loving the bush we were real
fans of the DOC campsites…travelling with 5
of us in close quarters it was nice to have the
luxury of another toilet and shower.
Soak up your family and soak up the North
Island…it’s worth it!
Susie x
Follow the Unlikely Kiwi and her family travels:
www.susiewilliams.co.nz/blog-1
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