Hello Everyone
I am spending 12 days on the North Island, New Zealand in Sept/October 2010. A week will be spent based at Pauanui Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. Where else should we should base ourselves to get a different aspect of the North Island? I am traveling with children so want to spend at least 2 nights in one location before moving on. Any advice?
Thanks

We spent three weeks on the North Island. We stayed north of where you are staying in Whitianga. We loved the area. Our focus and purpose of the trip was to visit the spring gardens. Is there anything special your kids are interested in?

The Rotorua area would be fun with kids. We just drove through the area but there are a lot of things to do in the area. Some are pretty touristy but there are the geysers, Maori culture and spas. Hobbiton isn't far either.

Also don't forget about Auckland. There would a lot to do in the area that would interest kids.

We liked the Hawke's Bay area. We enjoyed spending the day seeing the gannet birds at Cape Kidnappers. We also enjoy wine tasting which is excellent in the area but wouldn't be appropriate for the kids.

Hi Marta
Were you able to visit all of these locations from a base in Whitianga or did you stay overnight at different places? I am concerned about spending too long in the car.
cheers
Kym

We did not day trip to these locations from Whitianga. They would definitely be too far to do as a day trip since the closest is about 2 hours away. I suggested these as other potential locations that you might want to stay for 2-3 days. Driving can be slow in New Zealand so even though the distances look close, it can be a while to drive.

On our trip, we spent 2-3 days in each location where we stayed. We had three weeks. We started out in New Plymouth. It has great gardens but I wouldn't recommend it in the winter. It was pretty gray and cool when were there in November. Then we moved on to Palmerton North. We choose this location because it was close to some major gardens. Then we moved on to Napier. This had a wider variety of items to do and see. We went to gardens, beach, birding and wine tasting. Then we moved to Whitianga stopping at Taupo and Rotorua. We saw a lot to do in the Taupo/Rotorua area but since we were focusing on gardening we went on to Coromandel to see the gardens and beaches. We did a couple of hikes and drives in addition to Gardens. We then returned to Auckland for several days. Lots to do in Auckland. We also went up to the Bay of Islands.

Because we had the three weeks, we were able to spend some time in each location. You will have about 5 days in addition to the week in Coromandel. You can probably locate yourself to one other location. It will just depend upon what you want to see and do with your kids. Since Rotorua area is about 3 hours from where you are in Coromandel, it may be too far as a day trip so that might be a good area to choose for your second location.

Being born in Northland NZ I am hopelessly biased but I'll say it anyway...Northland rocks!

But seriously From the coromandel the best day trips are just to the various beaches around the peninsular. Other expeditions are likely to be at least overnighters.

If you enjoy the outdoors, swimming, hiking, beaches etc then Whangarei could be a good place for a few nights. The city itself is pretty average but Whangerei Heads (half an hours drive) is a beautiful place with some great walks along beachside mountains etc. Check out Mt Mania and the Peach cove track.