The one road trip every Kiwi needs to do
Monday, 17 March 2025
I’d been told that arriving at the top of New Zealand would be a spiritual moment, but it isn’t until you stand at the lighthouse’s edge at Cape Reinga that you get what they mean.
You can drive there from Auckland in five and a half hours, but that makes for a long day when driving home again.
It also stops you from seeing the great beaches and towns along the way. It’s certainly best to make a road trip out of it. Here’s one way to do it.
Day one
From Auckland, it is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive to Kerikeri. About 45 minutes into the journey, pull off to Matakana for a coffee and sustenance for the drive ahead, or pop into the Matakana Village Farmers’ Market (matakanavillage.co.nz) on a Saturday.
Otherwise, keep driving and stop at the eclectic Eutopia cafe in Kaiwaka (eutopia.nz) or head to Waipū Cove for a swim, beachside picnic, a 90-minute walk around the Waipū Caves where you can find glow worms, or explore the Waipū Coastal Walkway.
Once in Kerikeri, have an early dinner at the Plough and Feather (ploughandfeather.co.nz) with a glass of local Kainui wine and dishes such as grilled sweetcorn ribs, mānuka honey baked brie, seared tuna and eye-fillet steak with peru peru potatoes. You can’t go past the baked Belgium chocolate pot with an oozy inside, cream and berries for dessert.
Now well fed, set off for a guided night tour of the ancient Puketī Forest with Adventure Puketi (adventurepuketi.co.nz). You’ll see the forest transition from day to night and be serenaded by the chorus of native birds and the haunting calls of ruru and kiwi.
Day two
After breakfast, drive about an hour to Doubtless Bay and look around Mangōnui and all the little shops. Have lunch at Remarkable Cafe and Seafood Restaurant while listening to seagulls squawk and the water lap against the sea walls before heading for a wine tasting at Dancing Petrel (dancingpetrel.co.nz).
The very unassuming winery hosts tastings on the deck of Kim Gilkison’s home, looking out to the Mangōnui Harbour. The vines were planted in 2006 and is one of only three wineries in New Zealand to grow and make wine from the tannat grape, which originated in the southwest of France but is now one of the most prominent red wine grapes grown in Uruguay.
This is quite possibly the best-value wine tasting I have ever done. For $10, I get to taste 14 wines, including a French-style rosé using 100% cabernet franc, a sparkling viognier and The Austin, a blend of cabernet franc, syrah and tannat.
After you’re all wined out (I have a sober driver - thanks, Mum), you’ll need water, so drive 12 minutes up the road for a tour of The Taipa Salt Pig (thetaipasaltpig.com) salt and ocean water farm.
For $25, meet at Cable Bay Beach to collect sea water in buckets and take it back to the solar-powered water farm. Zarv Whitford demonstrates how the sun helps separate the salt from the water before the salt is made for My Food Bag and other stockists. Then try the leftover, now saltless, water, which is bottled as New Zealand’s first solar-powered fresh drinking water.
Pop into Taipa Beach before checking into the historic Old Oak Hotel (theoldoak.co.nz) and wandering along the boardwalk to dinner at Jesse’s On The Waterfront (jesses.co.nz), where you can order your favourite Dancing Petrel from earlier.
Day three
Today, venture to the top. Pack a picnic or pick up food along the way before stopping at Kā Uri (ka-uri.com) in Awanui to learn about Te Rerenga Wairua Cape Reinga’s spiritual significance, admire the master craftsmanship of the kauri products and walk up the 5.1-metre-tall staircase carved right into a swamp kauri trunk.
From there, it’s a 90-minute drive to Cape Reinga, the jewel in the road trip’s crown, where you can hear cicadas, see the water in all shades of aquamarine, turquoise and deep blue and feel a sense of peace.
Cape Reinga, according to Māori tradition, is where spirits return to the homeland of Hawaiki after their death. Be sure not to rush. Take it all in. Trees blanket the hillside as you look out to Te Werahi Beach and see where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, in a swirl of currents. Of course, there is the incredibly photogenic lighthouse which makes the whole scene look like something from a painting.
Next, explore Te Paki Sand Dunes, where visitors slide down mountain-like hills of sand on boogie boards, before continuing to beach-hop.
The roads to the beaches are almost entirely gravel, with countless potholes. None more so than the road to Spirits Bay which winds for about 30 minutes.
I’ll admit, I did not enjoy the drive there but just when you think you’re never going to arrive, the campground comes into view, then the beach at the end with its long expanse of white sand, dune grasses and the sound of the waves. It is peaceful on the overcast day, with only a few people surfcasting and some families playing in the water.
Henderson Bay is another gem of a beach to visit and a great place for a picnic or a surf.
Brush off the sand and head to Peekaboo Cafe in Kaitaia for a casual dinner before ending the day with a sunset horse trek at Ninety Mile Beach with Ahipara Horse Treks (@ahiparatreks).
The wide sweep of sand keeps the horses well clear of motorists on the beach. Having ridden a horse only once before, I am a bit nervous, but my horse Charlie keeps me calm. I even find it quite peaceful as the clouds turn candy floss pink and peek out over the dunes’ tall agapanthuses.
Day four
Make your way back home from Mangōnui, stopping in Kerikeri for a coffee or treats from the Makana Confections (makana.co.nz) chocolate factory or at Keri Berries Farm Store for a real fruit ice cream.
The writer travelled courtesy of Northland Inc.