New Zealand - driving north Island

2 weeks in New Zealand is not enough time. Especially, if you are only there for 12 days due to the transit time to fly from USA. Therefore, a lot of decisions have to be made to fit the whole country into that schedule. Of course, you could decide to just do one island. But it's an awfully long trip to only do half the country. 

Here's what I chose:

5 nights in North Island

7 nights in South Island

North Island points of interest:

Waitomo Caves

Rotorua lakes and geothermal features

Drive along Lake Taupo to Tongariro national Park

Hiking in Tongariro

Whanganui as waypoint before driving to Wellington

Ferry to South Island

South Island points of interest:

Marlborough wine country

Kaikoura seals and dolphins

Akaroa peninsula

Lake Tekapo

Mount Cook

Queenstown

Te Anau

Overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound

Queenstown

Flight from queenstown to Auckland and then US

Things we are skipping:

All the cities (except overnight in Wellington before the ferry)

North:

Northland

Coromandel 

Martinborough 

Putanguirua Pinnacles (although officially closed)

Cape Palliser

South:

Abel Tasman (would have loved to get this in)

West Coast/glaciers

Far south

I had booked a midsize SUV and they upgraded to the Toyota RAV4. It's super comfortable for basically living in it for 2 weeks but definitely wide for these narrow streets, especially in the city, especially parking in a tiny hotel parking structure.

After 5 days of driving, I think we're already getting used to the drama of the scenery along the drive. On our first day, the drive from Auckland to Waitomo wasn't as impressive as we were just getting out of the city and it was raining and we were getting used to left handed driving. The drive from Waitomo to Rotorua was amazing! Well, I chose the Southern scenic path along the Waikato River. The mountains and river views were spectacular. The drive from Rotorua to Tongariro was absolutely wonderful and totally not to be missed. (I can't believe I considered going through the East Coast via Hawke's Bay instead.) Views along Lake Taupo was gorgeous, especially with snow capped mountains in the distance. But the real cincher was the ascent up to Tongariro! Alternating peaks of Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngauruhoe and their crests of snow in summer was fantastic. Worth it for the drive alone ! The drive to Whanganui was surprisingly windy along the Whanganui River. The drive down to Wellington was easier and pastoral with a lot of sheep farms. Driving in Wellington was a challenge with the narrow streets and cars parked alongside.