We decided to visit Auckland, Rotorua, Taupo and Wellington during our time in New Zealand. If you look at the North Island map, this pretty much covers a good chunk of the North. To experience New Zealand as locally as possible we opted for the InterCity bus. It’s basically a bus service that runs across the country and its taken by tourists and locals alike. Many tourists opt for the KiwiExperience as you travel with tourists and as such form new friendships. We however preferred the local route.

We paid 200$ for a one way ticket from Auckland to Wellington with stops in Rotorua, Matamata and Taupo. The bus gives you the option to hop off, stay as long as you like, and then hop on when ready. I believe it has a year validity. Upon leaving Auckland, we headed to Matamata where we explored Hobbiton. A magical place where the world of film and nature collide. Our bus ticket actually included the tour of Hobbiton so we didn’t pay any extra, however there are independent tours that you can pay for and which would likely have you linger for longer than we did. After spending 3-4 hours in Hobbiton, we returned to the city centre where we decided to have lunch before hopping onto the bus taking us to Rotorua. There isn’t much to see in Matamata however there are a few fun souvenir shops that might be worth checking out.
We arrived in Rotorua Thursday evening and we were happy to catch their night market. It was a fun experience and an opportunity to taste different cuisines.
I found Rotorua to have a nice charm. With it’s multiple geysers and small town feel, I found the city to be packed with activities to do. We spent 4 nights there and in that time had loads of fun. I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

David in front of a geyser

A photo is incomplete without a dab!

We then travelled further to Taupo. Another charming city with the most amazing pie’s I’ve ever tasted. Paetiki’s Bakery sells Lam’s Pie which is a must when stopping in Taupo. Lake Taupo is the largest lake in New Zealand and has some gorgeous views.

Taupo also boasts New Zealand’s highest water touch bungee jump. We mostly spent our time walking around the city and exploring a neat cafe 15 minutes away from city centre called L’Arte Cafe. A mosaic Cafe filled with beautiful art. The breakfast here was also amazing.

From Taupo we headed to Wellington. A beautiful eight hour scenic route! Driving past mount Taranaki was the highlight of the drive for me. Upon arriving in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand we were greeted with 70km/h winds! No wonder it’s called Windy Welly! Also titled the coolest capital in the world, Wellington is a beautiful coastal city. Despite us being there in the middle of winter, it’s a lively city with a young population. Pubs and restaurants are packed, even on a Monday night. While in Wellington we had the opportunity to check out a semi-final rugby game between the Hurricanes (Wellington team) vs the Chiefs (Hamilton team). This was a lot of fun, and really emersed us in the local culture.

We stayed in Airbnb’s at all three locations in New Zealand. In all three locations, we had amazing hosts. New Zealanders are warm and friendly and we’d definitely recommend doing Airbnb versus hotels or hostels when traveling as a couple. For example, the cheapest hostel we found was 27$ a night per person, combined that’s 54$ for the two of us. For 10$ more we had our own private room in an Airbnb.

After spending six days in Wellington we were ready to head back to Auckland. We decided to take the KiwiScenic Rail and it didn’t fail to please. It was a ten hour ride and scenic for nine. I would definitely recommend this as it gives you a real taste of the Northern Island. PS: Forget using internet on the train, as there is no wifi!

Here are some photos from our ride

After exploring much of the North Island, returning to Auckland did not feel as cold as it did when we first arrived. I don’t know if it’s because we were no longer jet lagging or we just got used to the weather but it was a pleasant change.

Now we prepare for our next stop – Indonesia, Bali 🙂 See you there!

PS: Feel free to leave us comments on posts you’d like to see or recommendations you may have for our next stop.