Itinerary
This is an 5 day self-drive itinerary that travels the North Island of New Zealand, starting and finishing in Auckland.
Welcome to Auckland. After you have cleared customs, collect your rental car and head into Auckland city centre.
Leave Auckland and drive to Waitomo where you will be joining a guided tour of the Waitomo and Ruakuri caves.
These spectacular caves are full of legends and tales. Journey underground on a subterranean adventure through limestone chambers and passages. Be suspended in awe and silence, surrounded by cave decorations as well as a galaxy of tiny living lights found in the Waitomo Glowworm Caves.
Enjoy a guided tour of the world-famous Ruakuri cave. Descend deep into the underground, down the spiral entrance. Walk amongst the breathtaking cave formations and marvel at the softly folding shawl-like limestone formations and crystal tapestries created over millions of years. See the ancient glowworms up close and learn about their fascinating life.
After the tours, continue making your way to Rotorua.
Today, you’ll discover one of New Zealand’s most magnificent geothermal wonderlands – Exploring a 60-hectare landscape of uncovered natural bush, geysers and mud pools.
Walk along the Te Whakarewarewa geyser terrace with its gushing waters, steaming vents and fumaroles, has been a powerful reminder of the earth’s force. Come face to face with the biggest, active geyser in the Southern Hemisphere Pōhutu Geyser, jumping mudpools, and live kiwi in our brand new Kiwi Conservation Centre,
Watch master carvers and weavers at work at the NZ Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, and hear our guides share stories passed down from their ancestors.
This evening you will feast on song, drama, tradition, and divine seasonal kai (cuisine) within the forest Pā (village) –blanketed by towering Tawa trees, blazing bonfires, and forest-formed amphitheatre. Te Pā Tū shares Māori history, traditions, and cultural aspirations across 4-hours of celebration and feasting. These events change with each season of the maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar.
Leave Rotorua and drive to Matamata to experience the real Middle-earth with a visit to the Hobbiton Movie Set, the bucolic setting for The Shire that featured in the Peter Jackson directed films, The Lord of the Rings. Drive through the picturesque 1,250-acre sheep farm with spectacular views across to the Kaimai Ranges.
Your guide will escort you through the ten-acre site recounting fascinating details of how the Hobbiton set was created. The Hobbit holes, Green Dragon Inn, Mill and other structures created for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films can be viewed and you will see how this beautiful piece of Waikato farmland was transformed into The Shire from Middle-earth.
After your Hobbiton tour you will continue onto Auckland and return home.
Time to do some last-minute shopping before heading back out to the airport to fly home.
