New Zealand – Beaches, Hobbits, Maori Culture, Lakes and Ferries (Part 1)

New Zealand – Beaches, Hobbits, Culture, Lakes and Ferries (Part 1)North Island – Matauri Bay to Wellington. 1,282 km over 7 days in a Motorhome (Part 1)

Matauri Bay, Orewa, Hobbiton, Rotorua, Lake Taupo, Foxton to Wellington

This is the first of three parts of our twenty-two-day motorhome travelling around the North Island in a motorhome.

We know there was a lot more to see in the North, but with a definitive leaving date and no set route, we wanted to ensure we had more time on the South Island.

For those that want to know the specifics without the detail, Below is what we saw and where we stayed along this route.

Travelling New Zealand in a motorhome

The roads are big and well maintained, and the vehicles are easy to control and navigate even the tightest corners at high altitudes.

Our Journey started in Auckland.

A late-night arrival into the country required a layover and a requirement by the rental agency; this worked out well as we stayed outside the airport doors in the Novotel. The following day, a quick pick up of the motorhome and we are off navigating the busy roads of Auckland heading north to Matauri Bay.

The drive out of the city, while slow at times, didn’t give us any problems. The further north we went, traffic thinned out on the motorways, and more of the glorious landscapes came into view.

Note: There are plenty of scenic stop points in New Zealand and plenty to admire in all directions.

Do not stop on the hard or soft shoulder of a road to take pictures. It’s a dangerous place; use the designated stop points, plenty of them around.

We could smell New Zealand as soon as we got out of the motorhome.

Our first lasting impression of New Zealand happened on our first scenic stop on the way to Matauri Bay.

We could smell New Zealand as soon as we got out of the motorhome. The trees and the flowers seemed to have a more noticeable smell, a clean, crisp smell of freshness as if the leaves were in your hand crisped up and inhaled deeply. Where ever we went, we always commented on what we could smell.

This was a great introduction to our adventure.

MATURI BAY Holiday Park

After a long drive north, We reached Matauri Bay Holiday Park, the owners told us that we had just missed the holiday season ( We arrived at the end of March), and we could have any plot we wanted.

The weather and skies are dramatic here, with no light pollution to mask the beauty of the night sky. Deep black skies at night Stars and galaxies shine brightly.

It was at this point I wished I was a better nighttime photographer.

Rainbow Warrior Memorial

The site is located right in the bay. A short walk up the hill takes you to the Rainbow Warrior memorial. My pictures don’t even do the location justice.

A link to Wikipedia is here to view more information about the tragedy.

Orewa Beach

Our drive south on the way to Hobbiton took us to Orewa Beach, this was a nice stop-off point on our journey. The Holiday park sits next to the beach and reserve.

We parked up and had our first taste of watching out for low-hanging trees, luckily noticed it before anything too awkward or damaging happened.

Lunch was at Orewa Surf lifesaving club, where we watched families playing on the beach, and paddleboarders out on the sea while tucking into our meal on the top deck.

Hobbiton Movie Set

Up early to start our journey to the Hobbiton Movie Set. We were excited about this. We hadn’t done anything like this before, so we had no idea what it would be like, but the pictures and reviews we enough to persuade us.

Driving there was pretty straightforward. The roads were relatively quiet, and Google Maps kept us on track.

Arriving at Hobbiton, we had our first taste of crowds. The car parks were busy, people were walking around, and as cars and motorhomes were exiting, more were entering.

Heading down to the ticket counter, we received our tickets and waited for our allotted time. We only had to wait 30 mins, quick drink and look over the maps and we were ushered into a bus.

On the way, there an enthusiastic and funny tour guide gave us a brief history of the film and set, and answered questions. He would be our guide for the whole tour, he knew his stuff and was very proud of the location.

The destination was more than we expected, the whole site is built on 12-acre of farmland, the only tree that’s artificial on site is the big tree that sits on top of Bag End house.

The tree is created out of steel and silicon and the leaves were attached one by one.

Rotorua – Mitai Maori Village

The next stop was Rotorua, famous for its bubbling mud pools, natural hot springs and home to the Mitai Maori Village.

Our location to stop over was the Blue Lake TOP 10 holiday park. From here, we were picked up and taken to the Mitai Maori Village.

It was the closest thing to an authentic experience of Maori culture we could find, given that we don’t know any personally.

Educational and entertaining, and the food was excellent. The food is cooked in a traditional Hangi way, a pit in the ground where food is placed on hot stones covered with cloth and earth to trap the heat.

Whilst the food was being cooked, we were spoken to by Maori’s explained their culture, showing us some traditional songs and dances including the Haka war dance. I was too busy watching it to be taking pictures.

We were also taken outside to be shown all the flora, fauna, and sacred pool.

Huku Falls

Leaving Rotorua, we head south towards Foxton Beach. It’s the biggest drive of the holiday. We pass Huku Falls and stop in to have a look. We pass Wairakei Thermal Village and stop in for lunch.

Huku Falls is a waterfall where New Zealand’s largest river passes by. The river is forced between narrow volcanic rocks that force the water at great speeds. There is a walkway you can access easier from the car park to see I up close.

Wairakei Thermal Village

You can visit the area and not go and see that natual geothermal feature of this particular area. It was very quiet when we got here so a snack and a walk around was enough for us.

Driving down to Foxton wasn’t as dramatic as the others. The weather was grey and wet.

The landscape turned into the desert on the way to

The New Zealand military used this land to train, and a few signs were warning you not to venture off-road.

We saw ‘Mount Doom’ through the clouds or Mount Ruapehu to non-Lord of the ring fans.

I had to stop and take the only picture I could get of it, a tiny break in the clouds was all I had, but it least I had something.

The rest of the journey to Foxton was uneventful, as I was getting tired and wanted to be there before dark.

Once there, our evening comprised of refilling the water in the motorhome, a bit of food, a movie and bed, ready for our early start in Wellington.

Wellington

Early morning rise to do our drive to Wellington, we hadn’t bought a ticket for the ferry as when we phoned they told us not to worry just turn up. However, this still made me nervous for some reason.

Entering Wellington was a change of scenery, traffic, more minor roads, and queues; we headed towards the ferry terminal and parked.

Unfortunately, the next ferry was at 6 pm as we had missed the earlier one by 10 mins. We consulted the booking agent, paid for our ticket and were advised to go into the city and explore.

Driving into the city was a challenge for me. Cars were too close, small parking areas and people who knew where they were going, obviously not us.

We head to the marina, find a parking space and head out for lunch.

Bars were full, people walking around, people in suits, all very different.

Time had come to board the ferry. The process was slow but well controlled and straightforward. We parked up and went in search of the lounge.

On the trip over the water, the weather was turning grey and wet, but I saw some of the Marlborough sounds on the way to Picton.

If you wish to read the next chapter on our adventure, click the link below.

NZ – South Island: Picton to Franz Josef Glacier – 600 km travelled over 7 days in a motorhome (Part 2)