Touring North Island

We had two weeks on each island and had a wonderful time driving round hiring a car like you intend.
We traveled up to the bay of islands in the north island and saw the Tall Ships race went to a hangi to celebrate the day which was great fun. Rotarua if I remember is the place with the terrible egg smells and sulphar, we had intended staying longer than we did as I just couldn't stand the smell. My eyes ran and it was like having a cold, I have no idea how people live there.

Napier gets a very good write up in my guide book, so I will see if I could fit it in between Taupo and Wanganui.

When we toured NOrth Island we had a wonderful time in Napier which is an Art Deco town. We were so lucky that (unbeknown to us) there was a festival on. The whole town was full of twenties cars driven by people dressed in twenties clothes. It was amazing. Sadly I can't remember what the date of the festival was. We found the tourist information stops really helpful and had some really lovely accommodation on our trip. Enjoy your trip I am quite jealous. All those wonderful beaches - and the sunshine. I hope we can go back some day.