New Zealand Things to Do Tips by mikerippon

Bay of Islands (North Island) is a lovely spot to visit. You can get there by taking a tour, or it's an easy drive from Auckland. You could take a bus, but it would make it tricky to get around once you got there. The two main places are Paihia and Russell. Paihia is a small town that has pretty much been set up for tourists. You can get a boat charter here for: fishing, diving, site seeing, and the famous Dolphin watching. Head out to the awesaome forest walks. Haruru falls is a neat spot also. A little further north and you will be close to Ninety Mile Beach. This is actually a main highway. It's a great place to cruise past. You will need a good car or 4 wheel drive to do this. It may be best to catch a tour if you not cool with driving in the sand. It's not that hard, but remember not to stop for too long, or you will sink in the sand and get stuck. Watch out for the tide. :)
Russell: (see pic) You can drive or catch the car ferry from Paihia to get here. It's like a little France. Neat old French looking buildings. Great walks, and as for the whole region a good place to catch a boat and check out the water activities.

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Directions: Bay of Islands is about a 3-4 hour drive from Auckland. Head up highway 1 and look out for the signs. Do look out for the signs as a couple of the turn off's are easy to miss.

Auckland is our biggest city. I have mentioned a few attractions on this page but there is heaps more to do. Some of the Wineries in West Auckland make some great wines, so it's worth the time to take a wine trail. If wine is your thing then it's also worth a visit to Waiheke Island, where you can eat and drink at a few of the local vineyards eg Mudbrick. Auckland has two annual wine and food festivals that are well worth going to. The Spring Valley Festival is in (every October) is very casual. You are givin a list of vineyards that support the festival and you travel to them. The Devonport Festival (Feb) represents many New Zeland Vineyards and the venue is in one spot (in the North Shore of Auckland).

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Directions: Spring valley festival is held in West Auckland. You can take a bus to Henderson from any main depo (Auckland Downtown Depo), then catch a cab to Lincoln Road. Get off at Lincoln Winery. You get to De
Other Contact: Check this page out for Devenpor

The Coromandel is about 1.5 hours north of Auckland. You can get tour buses there etc, but how ever you get there you got to go. The beaches are some of the best in the North Island. The place pictured is Hot Water Beach. This is a thermal area, and up in the hills behind the beach you can dig a hole and bath in the warm water running down from the top. It is awesome.

Heaps of other beaches are dotted around this reagion. You could spend several days there and not get to see them all.

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Kelly Tarltons Underwater World. Situated in Auckland City, Tamaki Drive.

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