Car Rentals & Day Drives

[alinsobe]

We'll be doing the Auckland-Sydney cruise starting Jan. 6th and am very interested in renting a car in at least a few of the ports, just curious if anyone has any suggestions of the best ports to rent a car in and where to road trip to or around. And yes, I have my international drivers license.

 

Ports include Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Melbourne, Newcastle, and of course, Sydney.

 

Also any tips on the hot springs and pools would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to visit at least one.

 

Thanks!

[Aquarians]

We'll be doing the Auckland-Sydney cruise starting Jan. 6th and am very interested in renting a car in at least a few of the ports, just curious if anyone has any suggestions of the best ports to rent a car in and where to road trip to or around. And yes, I have my international drivers license.

 

Ports include Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Melbourne, Newcastle, and of course, Sydney.

 

Also any tips on the hot springs and pools would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to visit at least one.

 

Thanks!

Kia ora i Rotorua,

The hot springs, boiling mud pools, geysers etc at in Rotorua, which is about an hours drive from Tauranga (remember we drive on the left hand side of the road). There are a number of thermal areas to chose from, with some including Maori cultural activities etc. Wai-o-tapu which is about 20 minutes further from Rotorua has a V.G. and colourful thermal area, with the geyser normally erupting at 10.30am. Whakarewarewa at Rotorua is a living Maori village set within the Whakarewarewa thermal area, and has cultural shows, arts & crafts etc. See their web site at www.whakarewarewa. com. Another alternative is Te Puia (more expensive) & both give a view of the Pohutu geyser. If you suffer from arthritis take a spa in one of our the natural hot mineral pools.

Aquarians

[alinsobe]

Thanks Aquarians, from another aquarian.

 

(smile)

[Globaliser]

You shouldn't need to have an international driving licence to rent a car in any of these ports - a valid US licence plus a passport would do.

 

Personal views about the places where you could get to interesting places by car:-

 

Wellington

If you're into wine, you can easily make a day trip to Martinborough, the centre of the Wairarapa wine region. There are many interesting wineries here, but the area is relatively small and compact so you can get to a higher proportion of the better ones if you want.

 

Newcastle

Similarly, if you're into wine you can head into the Hunter Valley from here.

 

Sydney

It's unlikely that you'd want a car in Sydney, as driving and parking in the city can be difficult and expensive, and just about everything is within easy reach by public transport. The exception is if you are staying for a long time (over two weeks) and want to do some excursions outside the city.

[ievayn]

Kia ora i Rotorua,

The hot springs, boiling mud pools, geysers etc at in Rotorua, which is about an hours drive from Tauranga (remember we drive on the left hand side of the road). There are a number of thermal areas to chose from, with some including Maori cultural activities etc. Wai-o-tapu which is about 20 minutes further from Rotorua has a V.G. and colourful thermal area, with the geyser normally erupting at 10.30am. Whakarewarewa at Rotorua is a living Maori village set within the Whakarewarewa thermal area, and has cultural shows, arts & crafts etc. See their web site at www.whakarewarewa. com. Another alternative is Te Puia (more expensive) & both give a view of the Pohutu geyser. If you suffer from arthritis take a spa in one of our the natural hot mineral pools.

Aquarians

 

We are planning to combaine a trip to Glow warm caves with the visit to Rotoria. We have about 11 hours to do that. Is it too much?

[jmb4534]

If you suffer from arthritis take a spa in one of our the natural hot mineral pools.

Aquarians

 

Aquarians,

 

We've rented a car in Tauranga. If I decided that I want to indulge in the spa @ Whakarearewa would I need to bring along a bag from the ship with a towel, or are those things furnished at the mineral pools?

 

Thanks

[Aussie Gal]

I also wouldn't rent a car in Melbourne as our city is very easy to get around and a car would be a nuisance. Of course if you wanted to go further afield and were not afraid of getting lost, then do so by all means remembering that we drive on the opposite side of the road to you.

 

If you only have one day here, then I don't think it would be worth the hassle of getting the car and trying to find your way out of the city which could take quite awhile. Melbourne is a city of over 3 and a half million people and a big percentage of them drive their cars to and from work. Also some of our freeways are being enlarged so there are a lot of traffic problems at the moment.

 

Jennie

[gmcc]

We'll be doing the Auckland-Sydney cruise starting Jan. 6th and am very interested in renting a car in at least a few of the ports, just curious if anyone has any suggestions of the best ports to rent a car in and where to road trip to or around. And yes, I have my international drivers license.

 

Ports include Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Melbourne, Newcastle, and of course, Sydney.

 

Also any tips on the hot springs and pools would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to visit at least one.

 

Thanks!

 

Just back from Auckland-Sydney cruise - spectacular! This is a hard question to answer as personal preferences dictate need for car or tour. We rented cars in Tauranga and Napier, then later in Queenstown after the cruise ended. We rented in Tuaranga and Napier because we didn't see any tours that really excited us and my son, who lives in Queenstown, suggested the tours in those locations would probably not interest us. We focused on exploring outlying areas early in the day (Rotuara /Cape Kidnappers /Wineries come to mind) and then returned to the towns later in the day to explore them before boarding the ship. If wine country is of interest suggest rental in any location with wineries. If you plan specific activities around your driving need to be careful. Our arrival was not well timed at Cape Kidnappers and we lost much time waiting for next trip out to the birds.

 

We took a private tour in Sydney and I would not recommend driving those cities as they are large and bold driving is necessary. We ran into shipmates in the Blue Mtns outside Sydney who rented a car but had a terrible time getting to the same location. My thoughts anyway. Also, I did not need an international license. rented with Hertz and Europcar (National).

[sidneycruiser]

We cruised around NZ in April 07 and decided to hire a car for the day in Tauranga and Dunedin. We were very pleased that we did. From memory Rotorua was less than a two hour drive from Tauranga and we easily did what we wanted to do in the one day.

It was great having a car in Dunedin. I recommend the drive along the Otago Peninsula - it follows the water's edge all the way and there is an albatross and penguin visitor centre at the eastern end of the peninsula. A very picturesque drive. Drop in to see Lanarch Castle at the haf way point.

[sidneycruiser]

I agree with commenst by others regarding car hire in Sydney - if you only have a few days the highlights of Sydney are best seen via public transport, particularly the ferries. If you like seafood, catch the ferry to Watson's Bay and have a seafood platter and a cold beer at the Watson's Bay Hotel.

[lisalovlee33]

We'll be doing the Auckland-Sydney cruise starting Jan. 6th and am very interested in renting a car in at least a few of the ports, just curious if anyone has any suggestions of the best ports to rent a car in and where to road trip to or around. And yes, I have my international drivers license.

 

Ports include Tauranga, Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Melbourne, Newcastle, and of course, Sydney.

 

Also any tips on the hot springs and pools would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to visit at least one.

 

Thanks!

 

We're on the same cruise. We rented cars for every port except Melbourne, Sydney and Wellington. For NZ, we rented all our cars via Pegasus. Some offered pick up/drop off at the port.

[Aquarians]

Tena koutou katoa (=greetings to you all)

Sorry for delay in reply.

Ievayn, Waitomo, where the glow worm caves are, is a fair drive from Tauranga. You could cover both Waitomo & Rotorua in the day, but in view of the distance & unfamiliar roads I would not recommend it. Waitomo is over two hours drive (each way) from Tauranga & if you go via Rotorua, even longer. Rotorua is about one hour's drive from Tauranga & as others have said, is the 'must see'

JMB4334, I am checking but as far as I know Whaka's hot pool for swimming is not available to the public. Polynesian Spa, in the historic garden on the lakefront is where people go for a spa, and yes, towels etc. are available.

If you require any further info & prefer to Email me direct you can Email me on burkinshaws@clear.net.nz.

Ngā mihi o te tau ki a koutou katoa (= Seasons greetings to you all)

Aquarians