We have headed north several times, preferring a self-guided road trip. The final stretch of our Auckland to Cape Reinga road trip was traveling up and back 90 minutes each way on the same road along the Aupouri Peninsula. It is the narrow strip of land running approximately 100 km to the north at the upper end of the North Island.
Photo taken from the lighthouse at Cape Reinga, thought of as the northern tip of the North Island.
Long and narrow walking path to the lighthouse at Cape Reinga.