One of our favourite stops along the way is at Matakana, coincide your trip on a Saturday and stop at the local farmers market and a stop at Ascension vineyard is a must do as well. http://www.ascensionwine.co.nz/home A stop at Morris ansd James pottery and tileworks is another must do. http://www.morrisandjames.co.nz/ Their hand made pots are just beautiful and if you have the time join their free tour which runs Monday to Friday at 11.30.

Morris and James - Matakana

Morris and James - Matakana

Our favourite beach is Buckleton Beach, this quiet bay provides great fishing, boating, swimming and awesome rock pools for the kids to explore. Close by is Sandspit and Omaha which are also worth a visit.  Goat Island is a marine reserve close by and is a great place to visit for a snorkel, swim and to explore the rock pools.  The glass bottom boat tour is great to see these protected fish up close.

Fishing out from Buckleton Beach

Windmill at Foxton

The Waitomo Caves are amazing and a sight to behold and the black water rafting is an adventure. Check out http://www.waitomo.com/ for more information.

We drove up to the desert region and were not disappointed with the sights that we beheld, snow capped Mt Raupaehu was a awesome sight.

The desert road past Mt Raupaehu towards Taupo

Snow capped mountains in December

From the snow capped mountains the road leads to the lakes of the Taupo region.  We follow the edge of the lake for about 40 kilometres into Taupo.  Stunning scenery as you can almost reach out and touch the lake.  Arriving into Taupo we stayed at DeBretts http://www.taupodebretts.com/ another great camp ground attached to mineral pools.  The park also had lake views and clean amenties with park facilities for the children. The pool complex contained a range of mineral pools at differing temperatures, fresh water pools, water slides for the children, private bathing rooms and a massage centre.  Staying at the park also gives you a discount on entry and they are open 7.30 till 9.30 every day.  A great way to finish the day.

DeBretts Camp ground with mineral pools at Taupo

Cape Kidnappers cafe

Headed off to Paraparaumu (north of Wellington on the beach) via the Tararua Ranges.  This too is a stunning drive with the ranges in sight all the way with their wind turbines sitting on the top of the range and then through the gorge with its deep valleys, stunning scenery and railway tunnels.

The gorge

Lots of fresh fruit and vegie stalls along the road and also many farms allow you to buy direct from the farm, so great to stock up with the essentials.  Stop at Otaki for a great range of shopping before heading to Paraparaumu -  which is the main town on the Kapiti Coast and is a popular holiday destination for Wellingtonians. It is well serviced with a range of shops, boat ramp, golf club and a range of holiday activities.  Check out http://www.jasons.com/New-Zealand/Paraparaumu/ for what they recommend. 

Continue on to Wellington and the choices for activities are endless. Wellington offers visitors a vibrant and sophisticated city experience set within a natural amphitheatre of a harbour and lush green hills. Check out http://www.wellingtonnz.com/australian_visitors/theres_so_much_see_and_do/wellington_highlights for a range of itineries depending on the amount of time you have to spend in the city.

Scenic drive through the countryside to Paraparumu

View over Napier

Lots of vineries to visit in the area but we chose just a few, Mission Estate http://www.missionestate.co.nz/   and Church Road http://www.churchroad.co.nz/ which are situated close to the centre of town. Both offer wine tasting and winery tours and We loved the setting of Mission Estate which is in an old restored seminary and historic tours are held daily.  It has a lovely restuarant in the garden beside the water feature, a great place to stop and have lunch. Both have amazing wines and we were excited to hear that most can be easily purchased at good bottle shops in Aussie.

Mission Estate Vineyard

We then headed to Hasting and the Havelock area to visit Black Barn, Te Mata and our favourite Craggy Range. Black Barn winery is an amazing place offering accommodation, concerts and running a farmers market on Saturday mornings during summer.  Local produce is vaired and plentiful in this area so if possible organise your holiday to explore on a Saturday http://www.blackbarn.com/ There wines were very enjoyable but not available in Aussie so a few were purchased to be enjoyed once we arrived home.

Te Mata is another local winery making beautiful wines in the same vicinity. http://www.temata.co.nz/index.php Visit Te Mata Cheese factory http://www.tematacheese.co.nz/ for beautiful cheeses, we really enjoyed their washed rind cheeses, especially the Irongate.

Driving to Craggy Range Vineyard was an amazing drive. The vineyard is set with Te Mata  Peak as its backdrop, simply stunning.

Entering Craggy Range Vineyard

We left Craggy Range and took the beautiful drive along the Tuki Tuki River through farm land to Cape Kidnappers Camp Park.  Very basic park but set right on the beach which the girls enjoyed.  A surfing haven as we discovered as surfers came out of the woodwork at high tide. We enjoyed the long twilight as we watched the surfers and the surf…….very rough,windy but beautiful.

Kidnappers Cove

Lady Knox Geyser

Today we headed off early to watch the Lady Knox geyser erupt (daily at 10.15am) and learn about the local geothermal landscape and thermal effects on the surrounding land. This happens at Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland 20 minutes from Rotorua http://www.geyserland.co.nz/ 

This amazing place is thousands of years in the making at allows you to explore the geothermal landscapes and witness such amzing sights at the Champagne Pool (clear bubbling pool), naturally coloured pools, mud pools, steaming grounds and huge volcanic craters. The pools were amazing colurs due to the minerals that were in the water. It was an amazing place and one of only 4 areas in the world where you will see a landscape like it.

The park was well set up and very informative making for an enjoyable morning.

Coloured pools at Wai-O-Tapu

Drove on to Taupo, stopping at Huka Falls – torrents of water cascading down from Taupo Lake to a stream before spilling into a wider lake.  The amazing force of the water turns the water a beautiful blue colour due to the levels of oxygen in the water.

Huka Falls - Taupo

Drive through Taupo, set around the lake fringed with lake view houses and some lovely cafes and restaurants.

On to Napier, quite steep mountainous drive, nice scenery of New Zealand natural bush and streams with pine plantations and grape vines as you get closer to Napier, which is situated in the Hawke Bay wine district.

Hawke Bay wine district

Stayed at Kennedy Road Holiday Park, it was a good pick with close proximity to town, shops and it had great facilities for the kids including a jumping pillow, climbing equipment, swings, trampoline, heated pool and bikes for hire.

Kennedy Road Camp Ground - Napier - Must stay here

The museum is set in gorgeous grounds full of roses and parks for the kids to play on.

Rotorua Museum

Take a drive through the grounds to the lake in the centre of town.  This is one of 16 lakes in the Rotorua vicinity and provides a number of activities.  Check out http://www.rotoruanz.com/ for activities to do in the Rotorua district.

We headed to the Redwood Forest, this amazing forest is full of redwoods and New Zealand native bush.  The forest has been sign posted with many running and mountain biking tracks to choose from.  Children were given age appropriate questionaires to complete focusing on conservation and appreciation of the park as well as look and find activities which kept their attention as we spent over an hour exploring this amazing place. Great gift shop with a range of souvenirs and the girls handed in their completed activity sheets to receive a certificate and lolly pop.  A great way to encourage conservation of the bush.

Redwood Forest - Rotorua

Off to the Gondola and Luge on the outskirts of town.  This is owned by the same people as the Gondola and Luge in Queenstown so we knew what to expect.  Lots of fun!!!!!!!! Again, awesome views over Rotorua and the lake on the way up to the top and fast trip to the bottom of the hill before jumping on the chair lift to do it all over again.  Heaps of fun for the whole family.

Views over Rotorua

For dinner we attended a Maori cultural show and traditional hungi at Miti Maori Village http://www.mitai.co.nz/ It was set in the bush with Maori locals who entertained us with traditional songs and wardances.  We particularly enjoyed the Waka (boat) arrival with its warriors in traditional dress with weapons chanting their songs.  The setting was supurb with the natural clear spring and river providing a wonderful back drop complete with glow worms.  The meal was great and we thoroughly enjoyed our evening, sharing it with a range of people from over 15 nations world wide.

Warriors arriving in the Waka

Traditional wardance

We arrived in Rotorua and chose to stay at the Rotorua Themal Park on the outskirts of town.  Again like many parks in Rotorua it had its own mineral pools, of differing temperatures as well as a fresh water pool for the children.  We spent quite a lot of time in the pools over the 3 days that we stayed here. 

The park was quite spacious and campervan areas were set in shady areas all close to the large kitchen and dining room.  The amenities were clean with ample hot water.

Rotorua Thermal Park

Mt Manunganui

We left Hot Water Beach and headed towards Tauranga and `The Mount` as it is affectionately named. Mt Maunganui is situated in the city of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand. It is New Zealand`s favourite summer holiday destination with its white sandy suurf beach on the ocean side, and a safe sheltered inner harbour beach. Mount Maunganui is also the name of the extinct volcano which rises above the beautiful Mount Maunganui surf beach. We stayed at http://www.mountbeachside.co.nz/ at the base of The Mount and directly opposite the beach.  This place had a feel like Burleigh Heads with its Esplanade Shops, variety of restaurants and tourists.  A very popular destination and it is easy to see why.  The Mount is covered in walking tracks and at any time of the day there we oodles of walkers enjoying the range of tracks which cater for all abilities and all with stunning ocean views.

Spend some time enjoying the beach and walk to the sounthern end where the land juts out allowing you to walk along it and take in the scenery back towards the Mount and down towards Papamoa. Amazing views of the local islands the stunning beaches.

Mt Maunganui Sailing

Adventure Sail - Tauranga - a must do while in Tauranga

We chose to explore the harbour with Phil and Adventure Sail http://www.adventuresail.co.nz/ We enjoyed the scenery and even saw some penguins!!! We left port and entered the bay, allowing us to fully appreciate the mountain.  A stunning morning and one we all enjoyed.

Dan - Sea Cave Adventures - this was amazing - got to do this

 We were blessed with a stunning day and the landscape didn””t disappoint either.  Dan picked us up from Harhei Beach right in front of the camp ground and showed us along the spectacular volcanic New Zealand coastline and the sea caves that have been in the making for hundreds of years.  They were simply stunning and we were able to enter a number of these caves to be able to take in the full extent of this stunning landscape.  We also boated around Champagne Rock, Stingray Bay before we opted to be dropped off at Cathedral Cove and take the stunning walk back to Harhei.

Sea Caves at Harhei

Cathedral Cove is a stunning sheltered bay which is a popular walking destination for tourists.  An easy walk even with the children, took about an hour to return to Harhei but we were not in a hurry and regularly stopped for photo opportunities.  Remember to take food and water, there was a makeshift tent selling drinks and food but locals were working hard to put a stop to this.

Cathedral Cove

A photo opportunity on the walk back to Harhei