Mad Campers in North Island
- jaymitpatel92
- Sep 19, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 13, 2020
Hi there,
I am Jay, thanks for visiting my Blog. This is my first Blog so bare with me. I am going to share my experience of our North Island Road trip and itinerary for 7-8 days. If you are interested in videos please visit my Youtube channel, where I will be adding my Travel Videos and some cool stuff as well. Please Subscribe and like if you like my work also leave a constructive feedback to improve my work.
So let's dive in, shall we???
Day 1 : Auckland to Tauranga
We (Me and my friend Ratul) were thinking to go for AirBNB first but then I thought Let's try Campervan that will be cool lifetime experience. We started looking for some Campervan options and came across MadCampers, which cost us $50 per day plus $45 per day insurance. Prices may vary if you plan to book during Summer time. If you do want to compare prices for different Campervans I would suggest to use VroomVroom that will give you different options for camper vans based on your Budget.
So we picked up the Camper Van and started our journey from Mad campers.
Our First stop was Paeroa. Home of L&P. Paeroa is a central hub based at the base of the Coromandel Peninsula and the entrance through to the Bay of Plenty, giving access to many activities in both the immediate and wider areas such as the bush and the beaches. There are places of interest to visit within the town, many with a historical significance, or you can venture a little further afield to explore the wondrous Karangahake Gorge with all it has to offer.
Don't forget to take a photo with Historic L&P Bottle.
Towards the end of 2002, the bottle was moved, some 20 meters back into newly-developed $400,000 Ohinemuri Reserve to enable photographers to get their “snaps” without dodging traffic in the middle of the very busy State Highway 2.
You can have your Lunch in Paeroa if you are hungry if not carry on with your journey. Just 20 minutes drive from Paeroa and you will reach Waihi. Waihi is New Zealand's 'Heart of Gold', with a gold mining history spanning three centuries and a local open-pit mine that is still fully operational. The Ohinemuri River flows through Waihi on its way to the ‘must-do’ Karangahake Gorge. In the gorge, you can fish for trout, take walks through old mining tunnels and relics, or cycle the Hauraki Rail Trail. Waihi Beach, just 10km from Waihi, offers 9km of sweeping white sand and is one of the safest surf beaches in New Zealand.
Once you have seen the Gold Mining History of Waihi, it's time to get back in your car and start your journey towards our first destination for the Day, Tauranga. It's around a 1-hour drive from Waihi. If you have booked any Motel or Airbnb head to your destination. If you are driving in a Campervan you might need to find a campsite to park your Campervan. You can find Free campgrounds to park your Campervan. You can check Free Campsites on the Council Website. Once you have settled, you can take a walking tour of Mt Manganui. It's such a beautiful place with a long Walkway alongside the beach.
That was our Night Setup inside our Campervan. We had a small Kitchen in Van, we used that to do some cooking.
That was our first day well spent in traveling from Auckland to Tauranga.
You can check our Travel Vlog below.
Day 2: Tauranga to Gisborne
On the second day, our first aim was to wake up early and go to the beach so that we get a chance to enjoy the beautiful Sunrise at Mt Manganui. So we did and here's the amazing result. One of the best sunrise of my life. So peaceful.
Once we enjoyed that sunrise, We got ready, made some tea, and enjoyed our breakfast for the morning. Obviously, we will need some energy to climb Mt Manganui.
Mount Maunganui’s Main Beach has been crowned the ‘Best Beach in New Zealand’ by TripAdvisor, and ranks among the top 25 best beaches in the world. Often referred to as the Mount by locals.
Perhaps most iconic is Mount Maunganui, Mauao, which rises 232 meters from the sea. The walking tracks to the top of this extinct volcano provide 360 degree views which span the entire length of the Bay of Plenty.
We started Climbing Mt Manganui. It was exhausting but the view you get from the Top is worth it. Allow a couple of hours to climb the mountain as you will be taking some photos on the way up and possibly resting as well.
You can visit Link below to get more information about Mt Maunganui and things to do in Mt Maunganui.
Or visit the Video from my Channel
We finished our hike and came back to the beach. The main beach is just so beautiful and known for White sand surfing. You will see so many surfers at the beach hence why they have good facilities for Toilet and Shower. We took shower got ready to resume our road trip to Gisbourne.
On our way to Gisbourne, we took a lunch break. We reached Gisbourne around 4 or 5 pm. It was a windy day and an intermittent shower.
Once we reached Gisborne, we had to find a free Campsite to park our Campervan for the night. We used the link below to find Titirangi reserve. It is a nice beach view reserve to park your car at night. That Site does not have any shower, just the toilet.
You can also look for some of the paid Campsites for more facilities.
We just drove around the city at night and just admiring the beauty of the city. We saw the landing place of Captain Cook, a statue of Young Nick, who was part of Captain cook's crew.
Day 3: Gisborne to Napier
Gisborne is the first city in the world to greet the sun each morning, and it has a reputation for great food, wine, and surf beaches. Kaiti Beach or you can say Poverty Bay is the site of Captain Cook's first landing on 6th October 1769 and the very first encounter between Māori and European. I would say you will need 2-3 days in Gisborne. I would suggest first get the Stunning views of the First sunrise at Wainui beach. Then visit Dive Tatapouri, Located in stunning Tatapouri Bay just a 15-minute drive from Gisborne, this is New Zealand’s only wild stingray and eagle ray encounter. Then head to a stunning rail bike adventure where you will be riding a bicycle on a rail track while mesmerizing with nature's beauty.
We spent nearly 24 hours in Gisborne, tried to explore everything Gisborne has to offer. It was Cloudy so we missed our first sunrise at Gisborne and due to bad weather, Dive Tatapori and Railbike adventures were closed as well.
But we did manage to visit some of the iconic places in Gisborne, we visited Captain Cook's landing site and Young Nick's statue.
We visited 2 Natural attractions of Gisborne. Rere Rockslides and falls, And Eastwoodhill arboretum.
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