Car rental in Tauranga

[onthegogirl]

I will be sailing solo next March and the ships tours in Tauranga don't appeal. I am thinking of renting a car and touring on my own. Am I crazy? Any other suggestions?

[aussie52]

We are hiring a car in Tauranga. Pegasus car hire will deliver the car to the port. I found out about them on these boards. We are travelling in January so can let you know how it goes.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I will be sailing solo next March and the ships tours in Tauranga don't appeal. I am thinking of renting a car and touring on my own. Am I crazy? Any other suggestions?

 

What do you want to see? Where do you want to go?

They have rental cars for hire on the dock as well as private tours.

[kaseyoz]

we also used pegasus and were very happy with them.

why not try and get a couple more people to share the car with you.

there is somuch to see here make sure you do the research and check out your favourite places to see.

our only regret is we didnt leave enough time to explore tauranga itself, a nice little place, but we had a very full day

[Aquarians]

I will be sailing solo next March and the ships tours in Tauranga don't appeal. I am thinking of renting a car and touring on my own. Am I crazy? Any other suggestions?

Kia ora,

Cruise ships normally dock for the day in Tauranga and most passengers head for Rotorua, where we live, to experience the hot pools, geysers etc. plus the lakes and Maori culture, with many tours including a marae visit. Rotorua is a little under one hours drive from the Port at Mt Maunganui. Would you be happy driving on the left hand side of the road & if you don't have an international driver's licence is your driver's licence valid in AotearoaNZ? If you want to experience as much as you can in a day suggest a tour. If we can help further let us know

Ka kite ano

Aquarians

[captainron]

Kia Ora, Haere Mai a Aotearoa,

You could have a wonderful day in Rotorua.

One of the great things if you get the chance is to have a Maori guide take you deep down the track into the crevass of Mt Tarawera. I had the opportunity to do this with some Maori blokes I worked with in Hamilton, and it is an absolutely magnificent to experience the immenseness of the eruption that took place and shook the entire North Island.

To experience the Maori culture, I would suggest staying in Rotorua. Just on the west end of town on the highway to Taupo you will see on the left side of the road, the thermal valley and culture centre known as Te Puia. At noon each day they have a "wero" and "powhiri" to welcome all visitors onto the Marae and a concert of Maori music. Take your time to enjoy the park.

Another option (although your time in port might not allow) is the Tamaki Maori Village where you can enjoy the same Maori welcome but experience more the living aspect of the Maori People...planting of kumara (sweet potato), making of skirts with hemp and cloaks of feathers (the original waterprook clothing), and take part in a "hangi" (a Maori feast) where all the food is cooked in the ground. I don't know how late you are in Tauranga/Mt Maunganui as the first sitting starts at 5pm.

You didn't say your age or how adventuresome you are, but if you want toput a spin on things, you might want to give "zorbing" a try (located on the north side of town). DON'T DRIVE FOR 30 MINS AFTER DOING THIS.

or....just have a relaxing walk through the park and the museum and then sit down and enjoy a nice cup of tea and a meat pie.

 

 

Pegasus is good, but if you're North American get an automatic.

 

Hope this has given you some ideas of what to see and do in Rotorua.

Ciao for now!!!

 

[Coastaljen]

I can't imagine driving on the left side of the road. ..and yielding to the right I think. You are braver than I am.

 

I booked a tour with Ian's Mount Classic Tours. They can drive on the left side, and I just won't watch at all since I am a backseat driver. ;)

[kaseyoz]

also when you drive around the otago bay (a must do) this takes you to the albartross, penguins and lanarch castle , there is water just on the left of you. It is an easy drive but i can understand the reluctance for non aussies

[TeaBag]

Does Pegasus have rentals in most of the big NZ cities? We would like to drive around Otago Bay and see the Larnach castle. This is in the port of Dunedin, right? We would also like to rent in Tauranga.

[kaseyoz]

oops sorry to confuse you. yes otago bay is from dunedin. we hired a car both in tauranga and dunedin.

both of these places have lots to see which you can see better when not on a time constrant of an organised tour

[gaomm]

We are also thinking about renting a car for the day in Tauranga, since we have already been to Rotorua. Deciding which route to take and what to see is the problem. Any suggestions?

Thanks--Beth

[kaseyoz]

if you have been to rotarua before.

have you seen the blue lake and the buried village. I would spend some more time in tauranga, maybe take a trip up the mount mananui(sp). even just relaxing beside the lake if it is a fine day. the redwood forest (umm think this was at rotarua (how hard is it to spell that word think i have it different every time !!)

we also drove back through another forest not a thick one though, but very pretty to just north of tauranga. we had planned on a bit of sighseeing here but time ran out on us.

[kaseyoz]

have posted a couple of pic, one of blue lake and the other at the waterfall on the bush walk at the buried village. te is also a green lake not far from here. these are all close together