5 Day Bay of Islands, Rotorua, Waitomo Caves and Hobbiton Tour from Auckland

Not really a tour. More of an itinerary. They use local Intercity bus lines- one trip from Pahai to Auckland had 10 stops- but no bathroom breaks. Grouchy drivers. We hauled our luggage 4 blocks both ways to meet their buses. If you've been on tours with door to door service or has a tour guide and enjoyed that experience- this is not the tour for you. This is an expensive do it yourself type thing.

The actual tours we went on were all fine, but the transportation arrangements were not what we expected. On a typical day we had to get on 3 to 4 different buses/transfers all with different drivers and sometimes with different companies. The InterCity transfers on the third day were a complete waste of our precious travel time. Basically these were simply a city/state bus like Grayhound or Badger Coach that made multiple stops in different cities on our way from Paihia to Auckland to Rotorua without any commentary at all. It took all day to travel and the morning portion was 5 hours long without any planned bathroom/restroom stop at all. This is not the way to spend a vacation and we were very disappointed with this aspect of the trip. Okay trip if your a younger backpacker/tramper, but would not recommend for anyone that is looking for cohesive tour.

This tour fit our needs for touring the North Island so I didn't need to stress over driving on the left side of the road. I was very impressed when I arrived at my hotel and we received a confirmation in the form of a letter from Great Sights confirming bus pick up the next morning. I thought this would be the norm for the rest of the trip - each morning- NOT SO!. Be aware that each day is a different tour, with a different organization. Day 1- We had a very informative tour guide on the bus to Paihia. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds was interesting. We arrived to the pier shortly before embarking the ship, with no time to get any food. There were few choices on the ship. My advise is to prepare to bring food for each day on this tour as you don't know when you will get a chance to eat. The bay of islands was beautiful with plenty of seating on the boat. We saw dolphins and then set sail for some of the islands. You see the islands from the boat and the captain was mindful of photo ops and turning the boat around each island to capture pictures from each side. We were tired after a long day and were not prepared for a stop at the last island and were asked to disembark and tour the small island. We were tired and anxious to get back to Paihia and eat. We did get off and walked up a steep hill to get spectacular views. After being on tour all day and arriving to our hotel late we expected to be notified what time and where the bus would be picking us up the next morning. There was no notification. We asked the hotel front desk and they thought it would pick us up in the morning at the hotel between an hour scheduled time based on our tour for the day. One thing I was not happy about... we stayed at the Kingsgate great location right on the water and a block from the maritime center and beautiful sun sets. Our luggage was delivered to the hotel while we were on the boat. It stayed in the hotel lobby very small location right in front of maps and touring information for about 5 hours with access to anyone. I would have preferred it was stored in a safe location. Day 2 - Fun day packed with great sights and adventure. 90 mile beach was exciting and the sandboarding was a lot of fun. There is ample time at Cape Reigna and each location to see all the sights and take great photos. Again after an all day tour we arrived back at the hotel with no notification for the following day. We were to travel back to Auckland and then to Rotorua. They had no idea where we were supposed to meet. There was no notification about the pick up time or where we were supposed to meet. Day 3- After an hour of frustration trying to figure out where to meet the bus I called the information on our Viator confirmation. The New Zealand Fine Touring Group was the contact. The associate was very nice and told us where to meet the bus. She also notified us that we were supposed to have received a full itinerary we did not, and she would email it to us. This was the worse day! It was over 9 hours on a city bus. Something they don't explain is you are not on a tour today. This day is transporting you by city bus to Auckland and then on to Rotorua. It is very cramped and picking up the public at several stops. There is no time to get food or go to the bathroom. Prepare for this day! We were on our own to figure out how to get to Rotorua from Auckland also as we still had not received our itinerary. That night we arrived in Rotorua and were able to access email and the itinerary. Hallelujah! It was very informative and stated we would have a taxi pick us up at the bus stop to take us to the hotel. The bus was an hour and a half late. We called the travel agent and they scheduled a taxi to pick us up right away. We stayed at the Sudima. A nice hotel on the lake. Day 4 - The bus driver picked us up from the hotel lobby. The countryside is beautiful this time of year - very green! The caves were wonderful. Our day in Rotorua was spent looking for a restaurant to eat. There are a lot of great things to do in the city however. The Maori dinner was wonderful, entertaining and very informative. The food was good! Day 5 - A packed day of tours. We had a great bus driver and went to the 3 tours before arriving in Hobbiton. Hobitton is definitely the high lite of the 5 days. Beautiful scenery and though crowded, people were mindful of those taking photos. We were taken to a bus to return to Auckland. This time it was a tour bus and a straight shot to Auckland. What a difference that made. To review the whole trip... Make sure to have your detailed itinerary before you arrive for the tours. Get food! Most of the tours don't accommodate eating at your leisure. We learned to get food each morning to last the day. New Zealand is beautiful and I feel we were there at the best time of year with mild temperatures and green, green hills and diverse scenery.

We really enjoyed most of the sites and events. The only negative was too much time spent on bus rides..

Overall the tour was good. The guides were knowledgeable, friendly and informative. Waitangi treaty grounds tour was rushed and at times the guides commentary was too fast. The Intercity bus trip from Auckland to Roturua had lots of stops and the driver was somewhat rude. After the conclusion of Hobitton tour - wait for the bus back to Auckland was the most disappointing. It was a open shelter - extremely windy, cold and there was heavy downpour while waiting for the delayed bus. We were dropped off without much info other than your connection will be here shortly. Calls to your tour center was also unhelpful. For the tour costs paid for a Superioir Gold package the shortcomings were extremely disappointing.