We picked up the hire car near the airport in Auckland and headed for the Northland. We had six days to head up the east coast to the north and back down the west coast. The hire car turned out to be reliable, but a very used car! Six days turned out to be too short for the Northland - we could have spent weeks here. I think this is probably our favourite part of New Zealand - the coast and beaches are just beautiful and in parts it's very quiet and isolated. And so much history that we never even got a chance to explore!Read more