u/alvaromontoro

We'll be traveling as a family (2 preteen kids) to New Zealand later this year (June), and I wanted to ask for feedback on our itinerary as well as a few questions about possible alternatives.

This is our planned schedule:

• Day 1: Arrive in Auckland in the afternoon, pick up rental car, drive to Matamata
• Day 2: Hobbiton tour, drive to Waitomo
• Day 3: Waitomo Glowworm Cave + Rotorua
• Day 4: Rotorua + Orakei Korako + Huka Falls
• Day 5: Mount Maunganui
• Day 6: Hahei + Cathedral Cove
• Day 7: Auckland + flight back

I know this is a fairly packed itinerary. We are trying to fit in as much as possible given the limited time we have.

A few questions:

• Day 3: Is it worth also doing Ruakuri Cave, even if that means less time in Rotorua? It seems doable, but it would mean arriving in Rotorua later in the day.
• Day 5: Is Mount Maunganui worth visiting with kids? If not, what would you recommend in the area? My wife would really like to go there, so we'll likely visit anyway, but I'm having trouble seeing the appeal (apologies if I'm missing something).
• Day 6: We've read that access to Hahei/Cathedral Cove can be weather-dependent. What would be a good alternative activity or place to visit in the area, or between there and Auckland?

Thanks in advance!