Modern Vespa

Hey! I know this is off topic but I wanted get some suggestion on what not to miss in New Zealand's north island.
We'll have 10 days and this is the route: Auckland-Taranaki-Wellington-Tongariro NP-Taupo-Rotorua-Coromandel and back to Auckland.
Any cool pubs, restaurants, etc. Let's hear it.
Thanks!

Touristy stuff:
Aside from the obvious Rotorua mudpools and geysers and Maoris ...

Waitomo caves are worth a trip.
http://www.waitomo.com/book-online.aspx?gclid=CPr10YnK26MCFQT5iAodNiEj-A

White Island Volcano Tours
http://www.whiteisland.co.nz/white_island_tour.html

Thunder, Kiwis are the greatest people in the world. Rent a car (they drive on other side of road) and go explore the towns and people. Stay at local bed and breakfasts. And then post photos when you get back.

I was down there for a couple of weeks some years back, and rented a BMW 650 in Auckland. Then rode it down the west coast as much as I could to Wellington (which is a lovely city BTW), took the ferry, with the bike lashed down to the deck, over to Picton. The ferry ride is spectacular. I did a small loop around the top end of the south island, and came back through the Marlborough region (winery area) and back up the east coast. My friend lives out at Pt. Charles on the Coromandel peninsula, so we ended up there.

In the whole trip I never encountered any bad roads (well, other than a bit of gravel stretches on the Coromandel) or ugly scenery. It is an amazing country; you'll have a great time!

OP, you might want to put "NSR" in your title. Just sayin'.

BTW, have a great trip! I've always wanted to go there too, but haven't yet, We expect picture, you know!!

What to see in NZ.....the list is way tooooo lonnnnng and 10 days is just wayyyyyyy too short.
However;
1. get yourself the latest edition of NZ Lonely Planet to read on the 14 hour flight from LAX - AKL
2. Maybe PM Italianscoots. She and her partner just did an 8 day blitz of the North Island a couple of months back.
3. PM me to meet for a beer in Aucklands Viaduct Basin the day you arrive or leave.

Safe Travels.

Boulty

Thanks for the info, y'all, I really appreciate it.
We are renting a car (since my daily driver is a right hand drive Subaru I figure that that is half the battle) and we are staying in small locally owned hotels and backpackers, well, in Wellington we'll stay at the Comfort because of the great location and good prices.
I know, 10 days is way to short of a time to see most of the great things NZ has to offer, I reckon we can always go back.
We've already read the Lonely Planet book on NZ, can't wait to finally learn how to properly pronounce the names of the towns.
Thanks again!

That sounds like an awesome trip!! How was the weather? We are trying to figure out the actual driving time in between places; driving from Florida to Costa Rica we learned that just because the map says there are only 200km from point A to point B doesn't mean the trip will take just a couple of hours.

That's a great video, the country looks beautiful!
I'll PM you, it'd be great to meet one of the locals.
Thanks!

New Zealand travel times can be longer. Esp' once you leave the main cities, we have few motorways/freeways. One of the hazards of driving in NZ is that SH1 is a single carriageway with opposing lanes of traffic separated by a white line of paint. Those who visit us and are used to driving on the right need to be constantly aware, esp' after taking a break at a visitor attraction and then pulling out onto the main road (on the wrong side)
All rental cars have a little 'heads up display' sticker telling you to "Keep Left!"

I got really lucky and didn't encounter any rain. I was riding in March, but I gather the weather's pretty constant year round (at least that's what my friend says.) Good point on the driving times; in a straight line it's pretty short from Auckland to the Coromandel, but of course you have to drive all the way around.

The roads I was looking for were pretty crooked, but if you're in a hurry there's a big highway that runs north/south (Hwy 1) Traffic was never an issue outside of the cities - the roads are pretty empty.

The only place I visited that I'd say to skip was Rotorua. The claim to fame are these volcanic mud baths, but the whole town smells like farts & rotten eggs 24/7 because of the sulphur. I guess I just didn't get it.

Most scenic part of my trip was riding along the Buller River Gorge rd, and also coming down Takaka Hill. (Both are South Island though.)

Have fun! And remember to stay on the left side of the road!!

What time of the year are you coming,are you going to hire scooters?

When you PM Boulty, include me; I would love to join him in welcoming you.
After a fun evening with Jess and the gang in SF a few weeks ago, it would be good to return the kindness.

When on the road just remember: Left is right and right is wrong!
Having used a right-hand drive car already, you should have no problems with keeping the white line on your side. I never had any problems with using a left-hand drive car in Canada. A PTW, on the other hand, is a different matter because it is too easy to put the white line on either side!

In spite of the smell (which you very soon cease to notice), the thermal sights around Rotorua are worth seeing if you have never seen a volcanic area (such as Yellowstone) before.

I can't help with advice for the north island as we stuck to the southern half, but I'm sure you'll love it.

Driving in NZ is pretty easy, especially as they drive on the correct side of the road from a UK perspective, but one thing to watch out for is what happens when turning off into a side road.

If you are planning on a main road turning left and a car coming the other way also wants to turn right into the side road then they have priority and you will need to give way to them which is the opposite to the UK.

You'll have to go back again and do the Mainland (South Island)- It's well worth your while.

Wish I had that advise when I first went over - the roads are winding and narrower than those here on the Mainland, or the rest of the world.

But - the best thing about NZ is all the small towns (or even some places that are no more than sheds) - they are worth taking time to stop and explore.

Food is outstanding, and cheap, and they are a pretty freindly bunch.

And beer ..............

you will have fun!

I can attest to that! Last December I met up with some of the Wellington scooter club members and had a fine time. Try to grab a copy of ScootNZ whilst in the Wellington area; it is a great little read and quite well done.

Kia ora y'all!
Wow, this is turning out a lot better than expected, thanks a lot for all the input. KenM, we'll PM you as well.
We'll be arriving to Auckland next Saturday Sept.4 (AM) and will be staying on Hobson Street for one night and then leaving for the Taranaki area on Sunday AM. We'll shout for those beers.
Farts and rotten eggs? We had read that but the town seems pretty cool and we'll try to get a mt. bike ride in the Whakarewarewa.
No scooter hiring, no time for we'd like to see as much of NZ as we can, plus we don't think we can get used to riding a right hand drive scooter.
The driving thing will be interesting, I'll just have to concentrate especially in the round abouts.
Thanks again!

I'm in Wellington if you have any time (which doesn't always happen on trips like this...) and wish to meet up with some local scooterists (thanks for the plug Rich!)

Sounds great, scoot! We'll get to Wellington on Tue. Sept7th, we'd love to meet some of the locals.
Thanks!

One of the "secret" great countries I think.

If not in boutique pubs, ask for Monteiths (various styles) of beer, that should avoid disappointment. The small brewers are real artisans in NZ.

In Auckland seek out Galbraiths Ale House (bitter and twisted or Bob Hudsons bitter) and/or The Shakespeare tavern(Falstaff) or The Cock and Bull(Fuggles).

Search out home made pies in bakeries. Fish and chips ask the locals where the best shop in town is.

Watch out for sleepy locals on the rural roads.

Take an Mp3 as stations are not too good signalwise out of the towns.

4 million in a space of the British Isles - great!!!

Enjoy the "secret".

Make sure you stop in Sanson on the way down for a coffee at the cart (look for the vespa+sidecar). Andrew makes the best coffee in NZ.

Great info, good call on the MP3.
Thanks!

Will do. My wife will be happy to hear this since she's the caffeine junky.
Thanks!

WHAT A GREAT TRIP WE'VE JUST HAD!!
My wife and I want to thank the Auckland Vespa club for their hospitality and all around niceness. Us fresh off the plane, and this crew came to pick us up at our hotel to take us for a Vespa ride around the city finishing at the very cool "Barrio" for mandatory beers (Boulty met us there). After that, KenM treated us to tapas and wine at one of the neigborhood restaurants, awesome night!! We could've come back to the states the next day and still been satisfied with our trip to NZ. Thanks guys!
After that we drove around the north island checking out some beautiful places and meeting great, friendly people. Did I mention that the kiwis are friendly? We felt welcome everywhere we went. Can't wait to go back....

Hey Guys!
Glad to hear you are home safe and all went well. Post some pics when you get your bags unpacked and the jet-lag has gone. It was great to meet you both at Barrio and cheers for bringing some ScooterWest gear all the way from SoCal. The T Shirt fits well and the stickers are on the GT.

Best
Boulty

Boulty!!
Sweet as...
Glad to hear the shirt fits you, I want to thank the people at Motorsports for donating some of the shirts (and all the stickers) that we brought for you guys.
I'll post some pictures of the trip as soon as I learned how to do it.
Been trying to tune in to Pippa at Channel One's Brekkie show, I guess our cable provider doesn't carry it, we'll have to get the news somewhere else.

She is a Honey and Paul Henry is a laugh.
Available online - fill yer boots!
http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news

Too funny!
I never knew the guy's name.