NZ North Island Road Trip
Today I am so excited to share my Auckland to Gisborne Road Trip! Not only am I super excited to share this itinerary but, I am so excited that I actually went on a REAL trip after so long in quarantine!
Slowly but surely getting to a new normal is feeling good and I am ready for more adventures! Luckily I have 2 islands of beautiful NZ to explore while international borders remain closed.
The story behind our great 3-day road trip was caused by a shower. We were delivering a shower shell by trailer from Auckland to Gisborne. Now I’m not sure why they wanted this exact shower shell, but we were getting paid for it and I craved an adventure. We encountered SO many fun obstacles and some that were just purely annoying as you will find out if you want the extended story! (let me know below).
For anyone not sure, the distance from Auckland to Gisborne is approximately 500km, so generally, this turns into a 6-hour drive. If you are driving non-stop with no traffic. But if anyone knows me I want to stop at almost every junction to take a picture or do something other than drive! So, as expected it took us a little longer! Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Day 1
Auckland - Hamilton
We left Auckland at approximately 8 am and headed out of the city following State Highway 1 (also the magical Waikato Expressway) to arrive in Hamilton. Hamilton is pretty much just another city in NZ, but they are home to some pretty incredible gardens. And not just like a regular garden, but themed gardens!
There was everything from a Renaissance Garden, Japanese Garden, Classical Garden, British Garden, Chinese Garden, Surrealist Garden, and more. I was blown away by the beauty! I could easily spend a couple of hours here. If you are the same and are looking to take millions of photos try leaving Auckland an hour or 2 earlier so that you don’t leave your road trip dragging out too long into the night.
Hamilton - Rotorua
After spending some time at the Hamilton gardens (we have been to Hamilton multiple times before so we decided we didn’t need to explore much more – but leave a comment if you want a guide), we made our way onto Rotorua. Rotorua is approximately an hour south of Hamilton.
Rotorua is well known in NZ for being our Geothermal hub! Filled with bubbling mud pools, Maori culture, and hot springs. It is a small town though has so many fun thing to do!
On the way through we only stopped momentarily for a couple of photos by the geothermal pools. We found in order to slow down the day, stay a night in Rotorua on the way there to have a bit more time to explore! In the end, we decided to continue to Gisborne, passing through Rotorua. Though tomorrow’s agenda allows for more sightseeing!
Rotorua - Gisborne
Straight from Rotorua, there was an approximately 4.5-hour drive. Leaving Rotorua we traveled around the coast of Lake Rotoiti towards Whakatane. This drive is just gorgeous! I had to stop so many times to take photos and I definitely recommend this scenic drive.
We took the route that took us through Opotiki through the Waioeka Gorge (2 hours). Be aware that there is no service! We managed to break down a couple of times without any way to get help! Lucky for Sam, he is experienced in anything to do with cars. Once you emerge out of the Waiokea Gorge, Gisborne is up on the horizon!
However, of course, it isn’t always that easy right?!
For anyone actually just going straight to Gisborne, you’ll manage but if you are dropping something off into the Wop Wops, in the dark, best of luck!
If anyone is interested in the story to follow, I’ll be uploading it in another blog post about crazy travel experiences. Let me know if this is something you’d’ be keen on reading!
We stayed a night in Gisborne at the Portside Hotel by Heritage in a 1 bedroom deluxe suite. This, I honestly really enjoyed. Some of the most comfortable and beautiful rooms all wrapped up in a gorgeous location. If you are looking to see more detail of the room and my stay let me know and I’ll do a review!
Day 2
Gisborne - Rotorua
The next morning after a nice sunrise we headed back to Rotorua. If you are looking to explore Gisborne properly, I would definitely recommend spending 2 nights. We sadly didn’t have much time to explore but I’d love to go back someday.
We took the same route back to Rotorua and arrived by midday. We went up to Skyline Rotorua. This takes you up a lovely mountain to an insane view of the city, here too you can ride the luge which is a great deal of fun!
Later in the afternoon we had explored the lake and found some beautiful spots for photos and we decided to check in to our next hotel. We stayed the night at Cordis Rotorua and had a lovely stay. (blog post for review soon to be coming out for this too).
Rotorua - Auckland
After a good night’s rest, we hit the road once again and drove back to the city of sails. There are so many more places that you can go on the way back to Auckland, such as back to Hamilton, drive east to Tauranga, out to Raglan, or even Cambridge. It’s totally up to you where your journey goes next!
But Sam and I had decided on a quick trip we could do during a long weekend and fit in as much as possible!
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Stay tuned for some hotel reviews! And for more NZ content click here!