3 days road trip in the Northland region of New Zealand

Picking the Northland region for a three-day road trip in New Zealand may sound surprising. Visitors usually dream of the ski resorts on the South Island of New Zealand when it starts getting colder. The North Island tends to be less attractive, which may explain why we were able to find an excellent deal to fly over for our Queen’s Birthday long weekend in October. We wasted no time and left straight after work on Friday, returning on the first flight to Brisbane on Tuesday morning, giving us a full three days to explore New Zealand’s North Island. Our round trip from Auckland allowed us to discover the beautiful Northland region.

At first, I was considering visiting the popular attractions of Rotorua and Taupo on the North Island, but upon further thought, I realised that they would make great stops during a road trip from Auckland to Wellington. Another option was Coromandel, but ultimately, we decided to save it for a later trip and instead explore the north of the island.

Overall, we covered a total distance of 950km over three days, taking part in two boat trips, two dives, and one beautiful hike. Since we made this trip in June, we had to drive at night due to the short days. However, we could have seen more sights with one or two additional hours of sunlight. It’s also important to keep in mind during trip planning that driving times from GPS and Google Maps were always underestimated because of the many winding roads, work roads, and slow vehicles.

Despite the shorter winter days, the weather was not too cold, even from a Queenslander’s perspective. We experienced temperatures around 8° in the evening and up to 18° with great sunny days.

Our Northland road trip day by day

The numbers in brackets refer to the map at the end of the article.

Day 1: Bay of Islands

We decided to drive straight towards Northland and embark on a scenic cruise on the Bay of Islands (1), where we were fortunate enough to witness playful dolphins frolicking in the water. Even though we skipped Auckland, exploring the city can be a great option if you have the luxury of time. Our first day ended in the charming town of Russel.

Day 2: The Poor Knights Islands

On Day 2, we drove back to Tutukaka to experience the exceptional Poor Knights Islands (2) dive, which is known to be one of Cousteau’s favourite dive sites. Later that day, we slept at Kerikeri (3) to explore the beautiful Rainbow Falls.

Day 3: Whangaroa

On our last day, we drove to Whangaroa for a thrilling hike on the east coast at Duke’s Nose. Then, we headed to the west coast to watch a stunning sunset on the beach at Ahipara before driving back to Auckland.

Alternatives to plan your itinerary

We chose not to go to Cape Reinga.

After hearing twice that a tour to 90-mile Beach was the main highlight of visiting Cape Reinga, we chose to skip it. Although it would have been an achievement to visit the northernmost point of New Zealand, it seemed silly to drive by ourselves to this remote area in such a short time. As driving on the beach isn’t that special when you live in Queensland, and we’re used to long beaches, we do not regret our decision.

What I’d change on our itinerary

Due to driving time and flight restrictions after diving, we could only scuba dive on the second day of our road trip, which did not let us optimise the itinerary. If possible, I would have put the dive on the first or last day. Apart from that, I would not change anything about our trip. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the wilderness and impressive landscapes of the area we chose to visit, along with the diverse range of outdoor activities.

We only visited a couple of beaches during our road trip as we can enjoy them all year round back home in Brisbane. But beach lovers should note that New Zealand may surprise them with stunning beaches near Auckland.

Have you been to the north of New Zealand? What was your highlight? Leave a comment below!