New Zealand / North Island 

Lovely restaurant with great atmosphere (eat outside overlooking to boats) and food in Whitianga

Great craft brewery in (you guessed it) an old garage / filling station. Located at the heart of Aro Valley; The Taproom at 91 Aro Street features the ever changing line up of GP’s freshest and best.

Nice selection of kiwi wines and beers as well as small plates.

Eat Streat is a covered street with a dozen restaurants with outdoor (and indoor) dining all next to each other. The variety makes it easy to stroll and pick a spot for dinner.

Nice place to eat right on beautiful mission bay

There are lots of places to eat in Taupo – you can wander around and find one. But this one is a cut above.

This is a 70 acre complex that encompasses an old village area where the Maori of the area originally had a large settlement. The area has a lot if interesting geysers and hot springs but the Maori cultural show and other Maori exhibits ( carving school, weaving school) were the highlights.

Don’t miss the spectacular beach. Park at the Hahei parking area and ride the bus (5$ NZ for parking and bus) to the trailhead. From there it’s a 1:30 minute return walk to the beach. You will wan’t to swim there – change at the changing rooms at the car park before you head out.

Orakei Korako is a geothermal area between Rotorua and Taupo. You take a short ferry across a lake to a huge terrace of limestone with a trial up through active geysers. It’s a bit out of the way and quite colorful.

Beautiful church constructed mostly of Kauri wood. Nice on the outside, breathtaking on inside.

An underground river of hot water flows from the interior of the earth to surface in the Pacific Ocean at Hot Water Beach – a long beautiful white beach located between Tairua and Whitianga. The stunning beach overlooks the Pacific Ocean and offshore Castle Island, with Pohutukawa lined cliffs at either end of the beach.

This national park encompasses there large volcanoes in the center of the north island an hour and a half south of Taupo. Tongariro is most famous for the Tongariro Alpine crossing, billed as the best day hike in the world. It’s a challenging 12.5 mile one way  hike up from forest through lakes, volcanic flows, alpine scenery, and hot springs.

Consider a delightful 2.5 hour sail with Sail Barbary on this beautiful alpine lake under the volcanoes of Tongariro national park.

A great introduction to Auckland (and New Zealand in general). Your guide will show you the best sights in Auckland and provide invaluable recommendations for the rest of your time here.

Wonderful room in a lovely setting near Whitianga. Room, grounds, view and nearby beach are amazing

Stylish yet relatively affordable home in a nice part of Wellington. Parking is available

Consider staying in this lovely B and B in Devenport – a lovely victorian village just across the harbor from downtown Auckland with easy ferry connections to downtown

Great downtown location in Auckland which puts you in walking distance off everything

Nice homey inn in Ponsonby. Parking is easy on site. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, etc in the neighborhood but it is too far from downtown to walk – which may be a disadvatgae

Nice lodging on hill overlooking Rotorua. It’s a bit out of town and a bit hard to find but a nice place to stay