Kerikeri

Kerikeri accommodation lies inland from the Bay of Islands, with holiday homes and cottages among the citrus and kiwifruit blocks. A track follows the river upstream from the basin to Rainbow Falls, past swimming holes cut into the rock, and there is a shorter way in from the Waipapa Road end.

Flights from Auckland land just outside town, which makes this a practical first base for a week up north. Galleries and craft studios sit between the orchards, and the subtropical winter stays mild enough for the citrus to keep ripening.