Auckland to Taupo

After three days in Auckland, Mary Kay and I were ready to move on to our next destination, Taupo. We weren't in a hurry to get to Taupo because we couldn't check into our vacation rental until after 3pm. Plus my old friend from Colorado, Rose, now lives in the beach town of Tauranga. So, we took the "scenic route" from Auckland to Taupo with a detour to Tauranga.

Driving from Taupo to Auckland via Tauranga

This was only my second time driving since we picked up our rental car because, while in Auckland, we walked and rode the ferry to get around. So, I was still pretty nervous driving on the "wrong" side of the car on the wrong side the road. I kept turning on my windshield wipers when I wanted to use my turn signal, and vise-versa. But, it was a rainy day so it kind of worked out. Driving took most of our attention with Mary Kay navigating and me behind the wheel. I did get honked at twice on our way out of Auckland but that was all my honks for the rest of the drive. I think that's pretty good!

We arrived at Rose's beautiful home in Tauranga just before lunch and enjoyed the beautiful views and fresh fruit from her Feijoa and Tangelo trees. Rose joined us for lunch at Mixture Eatery and gave us a quick tour around Tauranga before she returned to work and we continued our drive to Taupo. We checked into our vacation rental as soon as we reached Taupo then walked to the waterfront view Lake Taupo before dark.

You can view the Wheels Up for New Zealand 2026 trip page to see all my blog posts, photos, and Wanderlog info.