A single day / Auckland and Northland
A Day North
- Duration
- Ten hours
- Region
- Auckland and Northland
- Pace
- 2 of 5
- Group
- Private, up to 6
- For two, all in
- NZ$1,290
NZ$320 for each additional guest, up to six. Free cancellation up to 72 hours before.
Out of the city before the traffic thickens, up the coast road to Matakana, and into Tāwharanui to see the takahē your trip helps pay for. Lunch runs long at a vineyard above the village. You are back in Auckland in time for dinner, and you have not driven a metre of it.
This is the day I run for people with one spare day in Auckland, for Aucklanders hosting family from overseas, and for anyone who has just got off a long flight and does not want to make decisions.
How the day runs
- 9:00amPick up from your door
- 10:30Matakana village and the farmers' market if it is Saturday
- 12:00Tāwharanui Open Sanctuary, and the takahē
- 1:30Lunch above the vines
- 4:00The coast road home, with one stop
- 6:00Back at your door
Pickup. Your hotel door, anywhere in central Auckland, the North Shore or Devonport. Cruise terminal pickups are fine if the ship is in before eight.
Weather. If the forecast is genuinely bad I will call you the day before and we will move it. No charge for moving it once.
Pace and mobility
- 1Gentle
- 2Easy
- 3Moderate
- 4Active
- 5Demanding
- Walking across the day
- About 2.5 km, in two stretches
- Longest continuous walk
- 1.2 km on a formed track at Tāwharanui
- Longest stretch in the vehicle
- 55 minutes, Auckland to Matakana
- Step-free alternative
- Everywhere except the last 200 m at the sanctuary
What's included
- Guiding for the day
- Hotel or cruise terminal pickup and drop-off
- Morning tea and a long lunch
- Sanctuary entry
- Vehicle, fuel and parking