This guide is the big picture, the overall view, but if you want detailed information on what to see, where to go, where to eat, where to stay go to my (Not quite) Complete Guide to New Zealand Travel

Where to stay, where to eat, what to see.  Yes, all that.  But much more. It is aimed primarily at self-drive travellers and they need to know much more.

The problem is how to deliver this information in a logical way - and I have decided to serve it up as the road rolls under you.  That is, the information is given kilometre by kilometre for each of the state highways. 

It is a work in progress. And so far it has been seven years in the making.  It is far from complete, but if you are touring NZ you may find it useful.

Click here to visit the (Not quite) Complete Guide To New Zealand Travel.

Gisborne and East Cape New Zealand

First place in the world to see each new-dawned day"

Want to get far from the madding crowd? Then take a leisurely drive around East Cape. Scenery on a panoramic scale. Lost and lonely beaches. And, because the International Date line is not far out to sea, the first place in the world to see the sun each new-dawned day.

You start on the road, State Highway 35, at Opotiki and after rounding East Cape end at Gisborne 330kms later. Average drive time 6 1/2 hours. But don't rush this journey. Take time to wander off the main road to beaches like Omaio, Te Kaha, Lottin Point, Hicks Bay, Anaura Bay, Tolaga Bay or Waihau Beach.

Along the road you occasionally see natural gas bubbling to the surface and burning.

A fraction under 45km from Opotiki is the mouth of the Motu River which rises in pristine virgin forest 110km inland. On its way to the sea is flows through some stunning scenery . . . wild splendour scarcely touched by humans.

At Te Araroa, near the easternmost point on the road, is Te Waha o Rerekohu, a pohutukawa tree reputed to be, at over 600 years, the oldest and biggest specimen in the country.

Right on the easternmost point is East Cape Lighthouse - one of those classic light-house structures that look so good in happy snaps. The side road to the cape hugs the coast for 21km from Te Araroa. Interesting trip - ostriches, deer, pigs as well as the de rigueur sheep and cattle greeted us on our way. At land's end you can clamber up the ridgeback on which the light-house stands - all 755 steps of steady climb. hard yakker, but worth it. (C'mon . . . if my three-year-old twins can make it, you can. Don't be a wuss.) The drive takes about 30 minutes, the climb 25 minutes each way plus, say, 15 - 20 minutes at the top.

This has always been a stronghold of the Maori, and probably the place where European influence was least felt. As a result, Maori culture and traditions held fast during the bad years when the race was in decline, awaiting the dawn of a time when those values were to be renewed and revived.

There is some fine Maori carving and decoration in churches and meeting houses at Te Kaha, Hicks Bay, and Ruatoria . . . but especially St Mary's Church at Tikitiki.

Gisborne

On the site where the first European, Capt. James Cook, set foot in this country there is a memorial erected, but it's hard to find and disappointing when you get there. It seems the local authorities in Gisborne, and more particularly the port authority, gave no regard to what should be one of the most historic places in the country. Instead of preserving it and creating a place of pilgrimage, they reclaimed the harbour in front of the landing spot, and built some particularly ugly warehouses or factories.

A higher authority should slap a preservation order on the whole area so that the whole place can be reclaimed for its inherent historical significance.

I am reliably informed that this process is underway and the local authority is deeply aware of the historical importance of the place - not to mention the economic importance of a well-managed tourist site.

It mightn't have much going for it in the sight-seeing stakes, but Gisborne is a hands-down winner in one area - chardonnay. It is a major wine-growing area and specialises in lush, stylish chardonnays, a wine for which NZ is rapidly building a towering international reputation. A number of local wineries are open for tastings.

One of the lesser known attractions near Gisborne is the Eastwoodhill Arboretum, a 140ha woodland about 35km from the city. It was planted by an eccentric farmer who bought the land in 1910 and immediately began planting gardens. By his own admission he wasn't much of a farmer, but he certainly was a gifted gardener. In the Cold War days after World War 2, he was convinced that the Northern Hemisphere would be annihilated by nuclear war so he set out to preserve as many species of Northern Hemisphere trees as he could. It's therefore particularly colourful in autumn when the colours blaze through the woods. At 2392 Wharekopae Rd, Ngatapa. Open every day 10-4. Ph 06-863-9800.

Morere Hot Springs. Twixt Gisborne and the open plains of Hawkes Bay lies Morere Hot Springs. Nice little motor camp there as an overnight stop, with time to swim in the naturally hot sea-water springs.

Te Urewera

To my mind this is one of the most under-rated visitor attractions in the country. Few tourists venture into this vast forested wildnerness, yet if you are looking for the primeval clean, green environment then this is it. Te Urewera National Park is one of the nation's truly hidden gems.

It is broadly the inland area between Rotorua and Gisborne, centred on Lake Waikaremoana. To traverse it, you drive the twisty-twirly road, gravel surfaced for a considerable stretch around Lake Waikaremoana, from Murupara to Wairoa on the coast.

I have always loved the idea of the "last great adventure journey" - like, say dog-sledding across the Alaskan wilderness. Well, its temperate climate equivalent is to go horse trekking in the magic and mystery of the forest of Tuhoe. Tuhoe, Children of the Mist, are the Maori iwi (tribe) that since the ancient of days have lived in this mountain and forest fastness.

Elsdon Best, the 19th century ethnographer who lived there for many years, wrote of the area as a "long land, a wild land of rough bush ranges; nor plain, nor pasture breaks the ever-present forest. The song of Toi and Potiki hold the savage bushlands. They are the descendants of the Celestial Child and Hinepukohurangi, the Cloudborn. They are offspring of Toi, the Woodeater. They are the 'Children of the Mist'."

Whare and Margaret Biddle run Te Urewera Adventures, horse treks ranging from one to three days. Take the time to go and discover yourself in one of the last, loneliest, loveliest corners of the planet.

A New Zealand Travel Guide is written by David Morris and published by

New-Zealand-travel-guide.com

148 Hillsborough Rd, Hillsborough, Auckland 1042, New Zealand.
Phone (Country code 64, area code 9) 625-6469
Email: drm@visitnz.co.nz

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Get inside tips on New Zealand rental cars

If you want to rent a car in New Zealand you could spend a long time trawling the net looking at options and finish up totally confused.

Get expert local advice by clicking here.

Here's the problem: New Zealand car rental is unlike most other places in the world because the country is split into two islands with a sizeable stretch of water between. 

Taking a car across Cook Strait is expensive. Some rental companies allow you to drop a vehicle in Wellington and collect another in Picton (or vice versa). Some don't. 

Along with a host of other complications it means if you are trying to sort out car rental in New Zealand you may need a cup of tea and a lie down long before you've figured it all out.

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