Auckland area "extras"

MCD

I'll be spending two extra days in Auckland at the end of the October 8 tour (Sat. and Sun., Oct. 27 and 28). Does anyone have suggestions for things to do? With Tauck, we'll be going to the Auckland Museum and a trip to Waiheke Island with lunch at Mudbrick Vineyards. I see that there are several tours to the location where "Lord of the Rings" was filmed, but that doesn't particularly interest me. The tour will visit a couple of wineries, so I don't need to see another one (plus I've been to several in the States). I'm more interested in local history and culture...and I include local sports as part of the culture. I've tried to look on line to see when various sports teams might be playing. It looks like cricket and rugby are out of season, and I can't seems to find a definitive answer about "football." I'm a solo traveler, if that makes any difference. Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

British

I pulled this piece below by searching pasts posts. A delightful Australian lady with a great sense of humor posted this. I miss her contributions. Unfortunately when we stayed extra days in Auckland at the end of our tour, my husband was very ill and we could not do these places.


Although your Tauck trip ends in Auckland, you don't see much of the North Island. There is a lot to see. One suggestion is to take a side trip from Auckland up into Northland, basing yourself in or near the Bay of Islands town of Paihia. Another suggestion is to venture to the Hawkes Bay city of Napier. You will be hard pressed to find a better example of an Art Deco city, anywhere else in the world.

Just a couple of suggestions to keep you going.

Cheers, Jan

MCD

Thanks, Jan. I couldn't see what you referred to as "the piece below," but I thank you for your suggestions. I had booked the extra nights at the Tauck hotel in Auckland, but I suppose that I could cancel that and head north.

AlanS

MCD wrote:

Thanks, Jan. I couldn't see what you referred to as "the piece below," but I thank you for your suggestions. I had booked the extra nights at the Tauck hotel in Auckland, but I suppose that I could cancel that and head north.

: ) British did a cut and paste- Paragraph 2, "Although . . . . .," contains Jan's comments. Jan (Jan Durkin) was a well-traveled forum regular from 'down under' who hasn't been around in the last year or two.

BKMD

I was on this wonderful trip a few years ago. Auckland was the lowlight of the tour for me. It's really an uninteresting city. Guess that's why Tauck does Waiheke Island rather than a city tour of Auckland. I had some free time the next day, before heading home, and walked the city and found nothing of interest. Suppose you bungee off the Sky Tower...

PF606590

A couple of years ago, Tauck took us to Rotorua, where we saw the Thermal Springs and saw a fascinating Maori ceremony. This was an excellent day. There was a beautiful Maori religious building, too.

I share the previous comments about Auckland, it is a decent sized city, but I don't think there was too much to see. We had most of a free day there, but it was rainy, so we didn't doo much

MCD

Thanks, everyone. I see that there is a day trip to Rotorua and the thermal springs that I could take. No bungee/bungy jumping for me, thank you very much. I'm not as brave as Alan (with his paragliding over the cliffs in Lima). And apologies to British -- I didn't recognize the cut and paste.

BKMD

When I did this trip, Rotorua and the thermal springs was part of the itinerary. IIRC, it was a very short flight from our previous spot, then back to the plane, and on to Auckland. This was a very worthwhile stop. Wonder why they eliminated it...