DAY 5:

New Plymouth (Taranaki) -Auckland:

I woke early the next morning to sunshine finally and checked out of the hotel and drove back into the centre and parked by the 7km coastal walkway area that runs from Port Taranaki to the Waiwhakaiho River Mouth. In that area is Puke Ariki, an innovative museum/library/information centre complex adjacent to the sea which has become the city’s hub and is well worth a visit. When I stood along the ocean and looked back to the city I could see Mt Taranaki towering over it, an image I saw over and over again as I drove north along the coast on Highway 3 bound for Auckland. The first hour or so out of New Plymouth on this road along the coast offers plenty of opportunities to pull over and look back at the coast and New Plymouth and Mt Taranaki in the distance. It’s a great little drive and would be enjoyed better travelling in the other direction North to South than the way I was doing it.

Mt Taranaki over New Plymouth & Puke Ariki Centre

Along the way there is a turn off into an area called the White Cliffs Walkway and it’s about a 20min drive off the main highway. It’s a sensational area for hiking with breathtaking views of the rugged coastline of the area and you even pass by the odd seal lying by the trail as I did when I walked just a few minutes of it!

White Cliffs Walkway & Seal by the walkway

This whole drive should be enjoyed with plenty of time up your sleeve and not when you leave yourself a 6 hour drive on your final day to get to the airport at Auckland! I drove another couple of hours of not quite as exciting countryside as the highway moved inland and it was basically farmland after another and then I took a turn off to Waitomo home of the Waitomo Caves and a major adventure capital area of New Zealand. Waitomo township is what you drive into first and has a wide array of accommodations from on site cabins to dormitories, hotel rooms and even staying in a hobbit house or an airplane or a train carriage! A short drive up the road from the town is Waitomo Caves, a famous labyrinth of glow-worm caves 30 million years in the making. This is an adventure capital for sure as in the caves you may go black water rafting which is a mixture of explore the caves by abseiling, walking or floating through them! Above ground there are horse treks and some very fine hiking trails in this pretty area. I unfortunately ran out of time in Waitomo and could only do a quick overview visit of it all but it is a place I would love to return too and would recommend highly to others.

Waitomo

I left Waitomo and drove straight through the city of Hamilton as I have never found there to be anything of interest there and made my way to the Auckland Airport for my 7.15pm Air New Zealand flight bound for San Francisco. The car rental company required me to drop it off at Rennie Drive a few minutes from the airport as many of the car rental companies require. I was a little worried about being late for my flight however the service was great when I arrived at my car rental depot and they drove me to the airport in their van right away.

SUMMARY

I really enjoyed my central and west coast of the North Island self-drive and I now know how much there is to offer the visitor. It is so incredibly stunning and beautiful and is completely different to the rest of New Zealand. If enough time is allotted it can be a relaxing and an exciting destination all in one.

Air New Zealand were once again fantastic and on-time!