Total Distance Travelled

Distance from one town / city to another
Auckland – National Park: 322km
National Park – Rotorua: 197km
Rotorua – Paihia: 470km
Paihia – Auckland: 309km (via Dargaville)

Summary of the daily distance covered:
Day 1: less than 100km (within Auckland area)
Day 2: 390km
Day 3: 256km
Day 4: 92km
Day 5: 100km
Day 6: 500km
Day 7: 148km
Day 8: 463km
Day 9: 362km
Day 10: 247km

Total distance covered: about 2,600km including day 1.

While I do agree (to certain extent) with what my friends said about north island being less scenic than south island, I am glad that I made the trip. I found north island has its charm and beauty of its own. I have enjoyed the journey and experience as much as I did for the south island. The only thing I miss was going up to the mountain in Tongariro National Park (turned back due to bad weather). Given a chance I would visit this place (the park) during winter so that I could take a chairlift up to the ski area.