The '''North Island''' of New Zealand is warm, with scenery ranging from sandy beaches, through rolling farmland to active volcanic peaks. Although it is smaller than the South Island, it is more populous, with half of the New Zealand population living north of Lake Taupo, in the middle of the island.
Regions
Northland
Auckland Region ''(also Auckland metro)''
Hauraki Gulf Islands
Waikato-King Country
Coromandel
Bay of Plenty
Central North Island
East Coast
Hawkes Bay
Wairarapa
Taranaki
Manawatu
Wanganui
Horowhenua
Wellington Region (also Wellington metro)
Cities
Whangarei - The central and only city in Northland
Auckland - The largest and most populated NZ city and the largest city in Polynesia.
Hamilton - home of the Waikato River.
Tauranga - In the Bay of Plenty.
Rotorua - Famous for geysers and hot pools... and that funny sulphuric smell! (smells like eggs!)
Hastings and Napier - Art Deco and wine in the sunny Hawkes Bay.
New Plymouth -
Wanganui - Once a port town, now gateway to the Whanganui river
Palmerston North - Knowledge capital of New Zealand, has over 70 educational institutes, that roughly one per 1000 population
Wellington - The national capital - home of the Parliament and the Beehive. The Windy city (and its not hot air).
Other Destinations
Hokianga, pristine, unspoilt, untouched, untamed
Bay of Islands
Lake Taupo - and its trout
Tongariro National Park and the Mount Ruapehu skifields.
Elsthorpe Quintessentially rural North Island
Havelock North Trendy shopping near Hastings
Understand
Talk
Get in
'''Auckland''' - Is the primary arrival point for most people in New Zealand a large majority of those coming in through the Auckland International Airport (IATA: AKL, ICAO: NZAA) which handles 70% of all tourist air travel and is serviced by most major Airlines. A significant number of people also arrive in Auckland by cruise ship.
Get around
The North Island is adequately serviced by many national bus companies.
[http://www.newmanscoach.co.nz/ Newmans Coach Lines] operates a premium sightseeing tours throughout the North Island.
[http://www.intercity.co.nz/ InterCity Coachlines] is New Zealand's national coach company and operates over 150 services to more than 600 destinations nationwide.
[http://www.nakedbus.com/ Nakedbus.com] is the cheap alternative to Intercity with tickets starting from $1 - book early and get bargin bus travel. They do not have quite as many routes or services as Intercity but are catching up fast.
See
'''Koutu Boulders''' — biggest concretions in the world in Koutu Hokianga
'''Mangungu Mission House (''Historic Site'')''' — site of the biggest signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in Horeke Hokianga
'''Mt Bruce National Wildlife Center'''. This DOC center is a good place to see Kiwis and Kaka (kind of "bush perrot"), and also plenty of other native birds. 20 min drive from Masterton on the way of Palmerston North.
'''Wairere Boulders (''Nature Park'')''' — an enormous basalt flow just south of Horeke Hokianga
'''Sand Dunes '''(''Top Sculptures'') — windblown sculptures on top of sand dunes across the harbour from OpononiHokianga
Do
Eat
Drink
Stay safe
Get out