[irishliz]

Just booked flights and rather than fly internally have decided to drive down over two days. Any suggestions on two one night stops or one two night stops welcome. We (us and 4 children) arrive in the morning.

Thanks

A very excited person!!!!!

[IanW99]

Just booked flights and rather than fly internally have decided to drive down over two days. Any suggestions on two one night stops or one two night stops welcome. We (us and 4 children) arrive in the morning.

Did this recently with some relatives who landed in Auckland. For us we spent the first day in Auckland and stayed there the night, then drove down to Rotorua for 2 days (lots of things to do here) and from there straight to Wellington.

If you fancy going via Rotorua, then it's approx 3 hours from Auckland to Rotorua.

From Rotorua go via Taupo over the Desert road (if open) to Wellington takes approx 6 hours (non-stop).

If you do go this way, can recommend the Luges at Rotorua and the Tamaki Bros Maori village to see a bit of Maori culture and sample a Hangi (loads of other good stuff to do otherwise).

If you want to see some thermal activity then Orakei Korako (Hidden Valley) (http://www.orakeikorako.co.nz/) near Taupo is worth a visit and check out the Haka falls as well.

Sure others will have some good ideas also?

Ian