New Zealand - Paihia or Taupo/Turangi area

There's a 50/50 chance I will be meeting my daughter in NZ on the tail end of her around-the-world adventure. I have a DAE deposit that I need to use. They have resorts available for my dates (early November) in either the Paihia or Taupo/Turangi areas. Is one area significantly better than the other? We are active ourdoorsy types. We don't do shopping.

I'm leaning towards Taupo because of the access to hiking, but being close to the water is also appealing. Your thoughts?

I will go to taupo. Paihia is nice but November is a bit too cold for me for water activities.

Thanks for your reply! It looks like her dates changed enough that the Taupo unit isn't available for the week that I will be there, but Turangi is available. Would you still choose that over Paihia? We are heading over to Hawaii following New Zealand so I am not too worried about doing any water sports. I just thought that the Bay of Islands looked very scenic.

NZ

This has nothing to do with your selection although I did choose turangi. As it turned out, I never got there. I totaled my rental car near te annu on the South Island. What i wanted to tell you is that none of the cdw or rental car insurances cover you in New Zealand if you rent a car. This includes AMEX premium car insurance.

If you rent a car you will have to choose the extent of coverage. As it turned out I took no deductible which was fortunate. They would call that "no excess." I slid off a the road because of some gravel and went over a cliff. BUT the good news was the rental car company told me the whole expense for totaling their new Nissan was $200 to tow the wreckage. I definitely lucked out. I stayed in the hospital that i was taken to by ambulance for observation for one night. I asked as i was ready to leave what it would cost for my tests and stay in the hospital. "Oh there is no cost. We have socialized medicine-everything is paid for." So obviously, dont be afraid to go to the hospital while you are there should the situation arise.

Turangi is not far from taupo anyway. Only about an hours drive. There are some great hiking pathes near Turangi

There is white water rafting near Turangi also. The Tongariro is lots of fun.

Jimster said:

This has nothing to do with your selection although I did choose turangi. As it turned out, I never got there. I totaled my rental car near te annu on the South Island. What i wanted to tell you is that none of the cdw or rental car insurances cover you in New Zealand if you rent a car. This includes AMEX premium car insurance.

If you rent a car you will have to choose the extent of coverage. As it turned out I took no deductible which was fortunate. They would call that "no excess." I slid off a the road because of some gravel and went over a cliff.

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Wow! What a travel story. I am glad that you recovered, but your story has sent shivers down my spine! I'll be sure to pass the information along - they are planning to rent a car for part of the time.

Thanks Chris and Carol for all of the great info! As it turns out, I am not going, but I am going to pass this info along to my daughter. She and her friends are going to use one of my weeks and they were debating between Taupo and Turangi. What they really want to do is go to Hobbiton, Rotorua, and then hike in Tongariro national park. They will be there for about 5 days before the start of the timeshare week, and a few days after. So Taupo or Turangi would be a good base for a week?

Yes you will have plenty of things to do for a week with either location.

Wow! I just finished driving 2000 miles (3400km) around South Island last week, and the Te Anau to Milford Sound road looks like the most terrifying place to make an unplanned departure from the pavement.
I took your advice and loaded up on insurance from Go Rentals in Christchurch.