The North Island is the most populated of the three main islands. Over 75 % of the countries total population live here, so the roads are busier than in the South Island, but the beauty and majesty offers plenty for the intrepid traveller to explore.
Most international travellers arrive via Auckland International Airport in New Zealand’s largest city. From here you can head north, south or stay for awhile to enjoy all that Auckland has to offer. Within an hours drive of the city centre are a myriad of beaches, volcanic islands, surf beaches, bush walks and man made attractions to keep you busy for days. The super city of Auckland stretches from the east coast right across to the west coast and has two large harbours on each side.
New Zealand is divided into geographical regions, much like states in Australia and the USA. Because we are a very small nation it is simply not economical to have each region run like a state. There are councils that have authority to manage the regions under the nationally run government laws. Councils are further divided into cities and regions, so a region like Northland will have councils running the towns and city of Whangarei and then another council running the rural areas within the Northland region. This complicates and frustrates the citizens who have myriads of red tape to overcome just to build a structure on their own land. Then, we add to this the local Maori Iwi and their individual tribes who have governance over large parts of the region too. And just for more good measure there are government departments like DOC (Department of Conservation) who administer and maintain national parks, beaches and rivers.
I have divided this website into the main regions so if you are considering going to that region you can checkout all the gems on the appropriate webpage.
From this page you can click on the region you want to head to below.
Waikato Region, just click on the map to be taken to the Waikato Region Webpage
Bay of Plenty region, just click on the map to be taken to the Bay of Plenty Region Webpage
Eastcoast Region, just click on the map to be taken to the Eastcape Region Webpage
Hawkes Bay Region, just click on the map to be taken to the Hawkes Bay Region Webpage
Manawatu Region, just click on the map to be taken to the Manawatu Region Webpage
Wellington Region, We haven’t extensively explored this region yet.