Today your experienced driver/guide will collect you from your hotel, not too early, but early enough for you to enjoy all there is to see on this magnificent journey north of the city.

We head north over the Auckland Harbour Bridge which spans the Waitemata Harbour (“sparkling waters”) and into seaside suburbs of North Shore City (Takapuna). We travel along the one dozen beaches that border the Auckland Harbour and Hauraki Gulf where you can view Rangitoto Island, a massive extinct volcano, and other islands of the Gulf.

From the northern suburbs of Auckland we travel up the Kowhai Coast and into the rolling open countryside interspersed with stands of native bush.

We visit Parry Park where you can see giant old kauri trees (800 years old) and take a short stroll through some New Zealand forest and imagine how our country looked 150 years ago when the European settlers arrived.

We pass through the historic riverside village of Warkworth, established in 1853, and still retaining it’s old English charm, and select a spot in one of the many vineyards in the area for a well deserved lunch enjoyed perhaps with a chilled bottle of award winning New Zealand sauvignon blanc.

After our meal we will visit Morris & James, a renowned Matakana pottery, perhaps a chance to buy something truly ‘KIWI’. We then drive and on through native bush to Tawharanui, a protected wildlife area and one of Auckland’s truly beautiful regional parks, where you may swim at a pristine white sand beach and explore the rockpools, or just sit back and enjoy the peace and tranquility of this beautiful part of New Zealand.

On our way back we will visit the beachside development of Omaha where many Aucklanders go to escape the city in their upmarket “baches.”

We call into the historic Bohemian village of Puhoi for a coffee break before setting off back down the coast to return to your hotel.