North Island NZ with kids - 8 days in October

What would be on your "must-do" list, I'm taking my two boys (10 and 8) to New Zealand's North Island for 8 days in October. We will have a camper van so will be staying at caravan parks.

So far we have:

Auckland - Wildlife sanctuary (tiritiri matangi), wilderness adventure (Great Barrier Island)
Hamilton-Waikato - Matamata (Hobbiton Movie Set), Waitomo Caves
Taranaki - Mt Taranaki Volcano scenic flight
Whanganui - old buildings in town (question whether or not to visit here)
Wellington - Te Papa museum, Carter observatory
Wairarapa - lighthouse walk, Maori parliament, Stonehenge Aotearoa (stay in Masterton, Kids' Own Playground)
Manawatu - New Zealand Rugby Museum, Dannevirke Fantasy Cave
Hawke's Bay - anything here to see?
Ruapehu - anything here to see?
Eastland - Mt Hikurangi 4WD tour, Tikitiki church, Longest Pier, Shortest River
Bay of Plenty - Swim with dolphins - Mt Hot Pools (open til 10pm!)
The Coromandel - Hot Water Beach, Driving Creek Railway, Gold Mine Waihi (Martha Mine)
Bay of Islands - Tane mahuta (biggest tree), 90 mile beach (is this where we can go sandboarding?)
Lake Taupo - Craters of the Moon, Replica Maori village.

As you can see, we have WAY too many things on the list. And I'm not entirely sure what order we should do things in, either.

So... any suggestions about what is an absolute MUST and what is meh? And any suggestions of order? We fly in and out of Auckland.

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Ruapehu - anything here to see?

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Me!!!

I will be back later to answer more, cooking dinner atm.

Rotorua - we did a couple of Maori experiences. 1) a maori village with hot pools, and 2) an evening dinner/tour/show which was fabulous. Froends have a motel in Rotorua, if you're interested.

I'd skip Hamilton - it's boring.

in Auckland, we did a harbour cruise which was lovely

Oooh, jealous Div!

I don't really have any constructive advice as to your itinerary, DH is from NZ and we're planning a trip over there either next year or the year after so I'll be eager to hear all about your holiday!

I would suggest go down the island from Auckland through Tauranga (dolphins), pass through Rotorua (thermal village) on the way to wairarapa. Te Papa in Wellington is quite good for kids. Then travel back up SH1 which will (with a 10 minute diversion) take you through Palmerston North. Totally skip Wanganui (have you ever been to Ipswich?). If you want to save travel time, you can do a scenic flight (helicopter or aeroplane) at Mt Ruapehu and it is on the way rather than a couple of hours of travel each way. Then go up through Taupo and Hamilton.

With only 8 days you would be pushing it to get up to Bay of Islands - it is a couple of hours past Auckland so you would lose a day just getting there and back.

Will add anything else I think of.

ETA, yes, Hamilton is known as the most boring city in the world lol.

What a great trip you'll have - have you been to NZ before?

If you're heading to Taranaki I recommend visiting Tawhiti Museum in Hawera, it tells a great history of the land wars between the Maori & white settlers. If it's a clear day I suggest driving up to the ski field car park on Mt Taranaki & look out inland towards Mt Ruapehu & Mt Tongariro - if you're lucky you'll see both.

Also, if you've never driven in NZ before you may get a shock regarding driving times - due to the hills, corners & lack of dual lane roads it takes a lot longer to get from A to B than it does in Australia (unless you live in Tassie in which case you'll be used to the hills & corners :))
You may struggle to get to all the places you want to visit in 8days. Especially in a camper which will likely struggle with some of the hills. We had a budget hire car in January & were shocked we made it lol.

It is a beautiful country & you will have plenty to see & do. Have fun!!

We are also heading over to NZ for 18 days in the North Island in October.
Wai O Tapu is just out of Rotorua and is good.

Waitomo Caves can be a big expensive and dodgy. Spellbound Caves is much better and intimate.
Just out of Ruapehu is Ohakune which hosts the Big Carrot if that sort of thing interests you, lol!

Hamilton is soooo boring.

Napier is in Hawkes bay, it has an aquarium, markets, and lots of stuff to see.

Tane Mahuta is gorgeous, just be cautious of what you leave in your car as there a high crime rate.

Near Tane is Kai Iwi lakes. Gorgeous fresh water lakes. If you strike a nice day it is a great place to swim.

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With only 8 days you would be pushing it to get up to Bay of Islands - it is a couple of hours past Auckland so you would lose a day just getting there and back.

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I would agree with this also really depends on weather, so you might want to have options for good bad weather. We did bay of islands but weather was lousy and was alot of travel for not much return in that weather. We did do sand boarding in 90 mile beach (in the rain - and had a dodgy neck for a few days after a head meets sand very fast incident ;-)).

Depends what your boys are into - I got alot more from the boiling mud, geysers volcanic activity stuff (Rotorua Taupo etc) than the beach type stuff (Cathedral Cove etc ) my inside 8-9 year old self loved volcanic/earthquake stuff and that would be the stuff I would look forward to taking my kids to. Hot water Beach was fun but I wouldn't prioritse it.

I saw lots of kids doing the Tongariro crossing the Blue lakes, views and rock scrambles fun, but is a long walk (all day) so depends what your two like. Most of the kids were putting me to shame.

If you look up Magic Bus that has several routes round the North Island and to break up journey had lots of fun stopping points. It may help with timings etc.

Wai-o-tapu is the better of the thermal parks. In Rotorua there is a Maori culture experience that is probably better than what Taupo can offer. There is also a Gondola and Luge in Rotorua - your boys would probably be of a good age for Luge.

The big carrot is awesome!! Well, really it isn't but it is quite big. There is free camper van parking near the big carrot for BBer's.

Good point on the driving times. AA travel calculator is reasonably accurate.

Not much to add- but I LOVED the luge and gondola!

There was also an adventure park somewhere that we loved, can't remember the name of it- but we did jet boating, those balloon type ball things that you get in and roll around, DH did bungee jumping....
There were other kid friendly attractions too- if I remember the name, ill pop back in.
Think it was just outside Roturua.

The agrodome? I think that's it. It has some good family stuff.

Thanks so much guys. I really really appreciate it. I'd love to meet up with some of you depending on what you're doing ;)

ETA: Boys LOVE water and beaches. And adventurous boy-type stuff for 10yo. Unfortunately 8yo doesn't like adventurous stuff. Won't even do roller-coasters. Or anything that spins. Or long walks. Or anything REMOTELY scary. I think I'm going to have trouble getting him in the helicopter.

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The agrodome? I think that's it. It has some good family stuff.

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That's it!