New Zealand is called Aotearoa in the Māori language – the land of the long white cloud. Legend has it that when the first Māori canoe reached the shores of the North Island, the captain’s wife cried out: “He ao! He ao!” (a cloud! a cloud!). Later, the captain decided to name the newly discovered lands Aotearoa, remembering his wife’s greeting and the long white cloud that welcomed them. That same long white cloud met me as I landed in New Zealand’s largest city – Auckland.
How and When to Travel to New Zealand?
On a map, New Zealand looks suspiciously small. However, even in the smaller North Island distances are long so you’ll be able to visit many more places if you travel by car
! Please note that traffic in New Zealand moves on the left side of the road.
The best time of year to visit the country is during the winter months (Northern Hemisphere winter, which is summer in NZ). I traveled for three weeks including the holiday period between Christmas and New Year. During this time, all the Kiwis (that’s how New Zealanders call themselves) are on vacation and camping so it can be more difficult to find a spot in campground you want. However, there are many campsites in the country, so you won’t be left without a place to stay.
Tongariro National Park
Tongariro is the oldest national park in New Zealand and a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Māori consider the volcanoes in this park tapu—sacred. They believe that the mountains were once powerful warriors who shaped this unique landscape through their battles.
Today, it is one of the most popular national parks in the country, attracting crowds of hikers wanting to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. True, due to the park’s importance to Māori culture, environmentalists ask visitors to stick to the trail and not summit the peaks of Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu as a sign of respect. For those eager to see a volcanic crater, you don’t even need to summit, as the pass goes right by the steaming Red Crater.
Fun Fact: If you’ve seen the Lord of the Rings movies, you surely remember the scenes from Mordor with Mount Doom spitting fire. Some Mordor scenes were filmed in Tongariro National Park, and the base of the Ngauruhoe volcano was used to help form Mount Doom. You can find more Lord of the Rings filming locations on the New Zealand tourism website.
Pearl of New Zealand: Coromandel Peninsula
This is one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand. Although the entire North Island looks a bit like Hobbiton – the Coromandel Peninsula is truly breathtaking. Dense forests, turquoise beaches, and rolling hills – you’ll constantly want to stop to take a photo :)) Or go for a swim. Or climb that hill!! I did all of that.
Kauaeranga Kauri Hike
The Kauaeranga Kauri, or Pinnacles hike, leads through dense ancient forests where the Southern Kauri tree grows. These trees can grow up to 50 meters tall and live for up to 2,000 years. True giants!
The trail crosses rivers and involves several suspension bridges. At the very summit, you’ll even have to climb some ladders. But it will be worth it – the views are spectacular. The path is well marked and very popular.
More info about the hike can be found on AllTrails Pinnacles route. This app, btw, is a great assistant for finding hiking trails and recent reviews. And it’s free. Also, for every person registered the company plants a tree! 🙂
Cathedral Cove – New Zealand’s Most Famo
When talking about New Zealand, I always imagined mountains. Mountains and only mountains. What I didn’t know then was how wonderful the beaches in this country are!
The first photo below might look familiar to Windows users. This is a place that made it onto the screensaver list – Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula. You cannot drive right up to it, you have to walk for about half an hour. So, you should bring food and be prepared to spend some time there. But it’s definitely worth it. The water is such a color that it looks like it should be warm. It isn’t. I went swimming anyway and the sun quickly evaporated all the water off me as soon as I stepped out.
Hot Water Beach
Another unique spot in New Zealand is Hot Water Beach. It looks like a regular beach but the secret lies in the geothermal water flowing just beneath the sand. The surface of the sand isn’t warm but if you dig a small hole – hot water flows in. While the place is unique, it is also very crowded. There were a lot of people. A LOT. Because of that, I don’t know if I’d highly recommend it. I preferred the other, emptier beaches :))
New Zealand: Rotorua
Rotorua is a city best known for its active geothermal areas. Walking through the city parks, you can often smell sulfur and find yourself lost in clouds of warm steam. And those parks are even free! However, Rotorua also offers many paid attractions for tourists or locals on vacation. Most of them are worth trying to have a well-rounded holiday. What kind of activities?
White Water Rafting the Kaituna River with a 7-meter drop
This activity gave me a lot of doubts because I’m not a strong swimmer and I was afraid of falling out of the boat. However, after calling a few places, they assured me it would be safe. Not only are life jackets mandatory, but the boat is followed by several people in kayaks throughout the rafting trip to help in case of an emergency.
Once we started the adrenaline was so high that I forgot I can’t swim well. I didn’t even notice that the water was ice cold! I even jumped into the river with everyone else when the instructor ordered it – floated perfectly fine in my life jacket. The instructor, by the way, was very friendly and very funny. He made the experience really nice. The entire trip was photographed and the whole group did a photo viewing afterwards. It was a lot of fun!
You can find the tour I booked in the Viator page.
Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland
Wai-O-Tapu is one of the most popular spots near Rotorua, visited for its unique and colorful geothermal phenomena. The most famous is the Champagne Pool, with greenish water and orange edges (photo below). There is also the Lady Knox Geyser, which erupts daily. The water column can reach up to 10 meters! Another attraction is the bright green pool called the Devil’s Bath. There’s plenty to walk around and it’s very interesting! Just remember that the smell of sulfur will be everywhere :))
A little secret: Right at the entrance to Wai-O-Tapu, under the car bridge, there are hot springs flowing into a cold water river. You can swim in both the springs and the river, enjoying the contrast – one moment hot, the next cold :)) There are steps by the bridge to go down. It’s all free, but the location isn’t obvious. I managed to find it by the cars parked on the shoulder. On Google Maps, it’s called Hot ‘n’ Cold.
Cycling through New Zealand’s Redwood Forests
In the Whakarewarewa forest, there are plenty of mountain biking trails—for both beginners and experienced riders. The forest itself is stunningly beautiful, and the trails are fun and well-marked. Bikes can be rented on-site, and there are showers available for a wash after your ride.
Check Whakarewarewa forest web page for more information.
TreeWalk in the Whakarewarewa Forest
Another Whakarewarewa Redwood forest attraction is the illuminated suspension bridges through the treetops (Treewalk). It reminds me of the movie Avatar and looks magical. If you don’t want to pay, you can just walk on the ground—the lights will still be visible and it will still be magical <3
Check Treewalk info center web page for more information.
Three Sisters (and the Elephant)
The Three Sisters are rock formations rising from the ocean (only two remain), each over 20 meters high. You can only reach them at low tide, so you should check the tide times before heading out. The rocks are on a very beautiful beach, and walking there is a total pleasure. If the beauty of the rocks isn’t enough, you can find oddities washed ashore by the Tasman Sea along the way. It’s a very beautiful and unique place that I highly recommend visiting while it’s still there. Unfortunately, the elements are doing their job. I mentioned Elephant Rock in the title, but part of it has already crumbled away, so the resemblance to the animal is gone.
Mount Taranaki
“Hmmm… Maybe a light hike today… Yeah, just a short one…”. Four hours later, I was taking photos on the summit of the Taranaki volcano 😀 I thought I’d climb a bit and head back, but after climbing a little more, I kept deciding to go just a bit further until there was simply no point in turning back without reaching the top.
However, the hike to the summit is very difficult. The trail isn’t well-marked and it’s steep. And at the top, the wind can knock you off your feet! While I like difficult trails, I would only recommend conquering the summit in good weather. The Taranaki park area is full of walking trails, lakes, and rivers. It’s also interesting that there is only sea and wide plains around Taranaki, so in good weather, you can see it all the way from Wellington!
New Zealand Road Trip: Mount Taranaki Volcano
Currency
For cash withdrawals and payments, I used a Wise card. It’s my favorite for traveling abroad because I can easily add many different currencies, there are no hidden fees, and the conversion fee is low.
- The fee for exchanging Euros to New Zealand Dollars is usually 0.45% – 0.55%.
- The current market rate is always used for currency exchange.
- Cash withdrawals are free up to 350 NZD per month. Above this amount, a 1.75% fee + 1.50 NZD for each additional withdrawal applies starting from the fourth.
Map of Places to Visit
One of my favorite tools for planning trips is Google My Maps. These are the same Google Maps but with the ability to mark various points of interest and save them in separate maps.
I’m sharing a map of New Zealand’s North Island with the places I described above and many others. I hope this helps you plan your itinerary and that your trip through the North Island is smooth and nice, as it was mine!
Share your favorite places from New Zealand in the comments below!
On Life and Mountains
