One week North Island New Zealand gateway. Volcanoes, caves and movie adventure

Arrive in Auckland airport and take a car. You would better to rent a car rather than rely on public transport that would do your trip extremely problematic. Book the car in advance, check online and you might get a good deal for off season time. I always prefer to arrive in the evening to sleep, recover from the fly and be fresh and full of energy for the next day, when I literally could call the start of the vacation. So book a room near the airport to spend a night.

Fresh and recovered from your fly start with exploring Coromandel peninsula. Two hours drive would take you to the sacred pretty place on the planet - Cathedral Cove.

! Make sure you check the low tide before going there. I saw a few people who came from far, but missed so important hours. After the lovely walk to the cove have some lunch. You could find a cafe in a closeby town like Hahei or near Hot Water beach that is just 10 minutes drive. Then take your towels, swimming suits, a spade and go to the beach.

The day should have been marvelous. Hope you would have a lovely weather to fully enjoy the beach. Now it's time to have a rest. Have some dinner and stay a night in a pre-booked place. I would suggest choosing something close to your next day destination.

Depends on where you booked your night, you would need to drive for 30-60 minutes to the farm. There is no pre-booking required, although, I'm not sure about a high season. There are also 2 nice cafes in the ticket center and on the site to have a lunch after the tour.

Drive for around an hour to Rotorua, a place is worth saying several days to cover major attractions. Book your stay in advance and do a check in.

Evenings you could spend in the spa. That is so great they have them opened till 23:00. You could explore during the day and relax in the evening. Go to Polynesian spa to have relaxation evening in thermal pools.

Spend a day or half a day exploring Rotorua volcanic areas. There are a few places to select from with a different level of difficulties, time to spend and varieties of things to see. All of these places have cafeterias to have some lunch.

Pre-book in advance tickets and go for an evening show with Maori people. I recommend evening show because there are not many things to do when it's dark in this quite part of the world. So spend your day in nature and evening for entertaining.

Mud bath and New Zealand volcanic mud treatment is not something you could do everywhere. I really recommend giving your body a chance to get the best for this short trip. Book in an advance mud bath or facials or thermal pools or other. If you are not in this type of time spending, skip it and go for discovery :)

The great place to see how local people spend their time. This is one of the best parks for various activities in Rotorua.

Rotorua is an interesting place, take a city walk that covers nice places and might include different activities depending on your interests.

History is something that must be remembered in any trip. Only old stories and acknowledgment of past events will reveal you the country and the place itself. This is an interesting and unusual museum to visit. Go there in your morning or after lunch time.

Another free natural attractions. Chek the article and plan your stay here, as there are plenty of activities over there.

Understanding that soon vacation would be over and hot thermal pools would be just memories, would force anyone to rush and indulge them self again. Do it for one more evening.

Wake up early, this would be your long day. The beauty you see this day you would never forget. So make sure you have enough time to explore. From Rotorua drive for around 2 hours (140km) to Waitomo caves. Book your tour and wait for the adventure.

Here you might have some lunch in the nearest cafe that are especially for tourists in terms of food variety and prices. Then drive for 20 mins to Ruakuri Reserve and do a quick track.

After the short but incredibly impressive track drive for 35-40 minutes (30km) to Marokopa falls. Enjoy the scenic drive and New Zealand landscapes.

On the way back from the falls do a short stop near the Natural Bridge. It's just 5-10 minutes drive. Unfortunately, we came there when it was too dark and rainy. I was not able to take pictures to add this as an article, but this place is not to miss. It takes only 20-25 minutes altogether and you would see a stunning nature creation - Natural Bridge.

Book your overnight stay close to Hamilton. There are a lot of affordable options. Have some dinner there and some rest.

We booked our flight afternoon to have some time to say good buy to New Zealand and enjoy its beauty one more time. The last stop I recommend to do is the beauty created by nature and people. Hamilton Gardens is a free attraction that must be visited

It has been a lot for that short one week trip. Time to fly home. Drive for one and half hours (115km) to the airport, return your car and that's it, time to plan your next trip ;)