Whangarei pretty-ugly, backpacker bible says

Whangarei is rated as "somewhere in the middle" on the pretty-to-ugly scale in the latest Lonely Planet guidebook to New Zealand.
But the tourist bible describes the 26m-high Whangarei Falls as the Paris Hilton of New Zealand waterfalls - not the most impressive but reputably the most photographed.
And the guidebook says diving fanatics in the Whangarei district should drop everything and head to Tutukaka as the neighbouring Poor Knights Islands are considered one of the world's top diving spots.
The latest Lonely Planet guidebook generally gives Northland fine reviews, although Dargaville and Kaitaia collect putdowns similar to those they received in the past and the Ancient Kauri Kingdom at Awanui also comes in for critical comments.
Northland and the Bay of Islands cover 38 pages in the latest edition, which has no mention of the car thieves which plagued Kaitaia in earlier publications of the influential guidebook.
Instead, Lonely Planet advises readers that nobody goes to the Far North to hang out in Kaitaia, although it's a handy stop if you're after a supermarket, post office or ATM.
Dargaville gets a similar rating, with Lonely Planet saying that when a town proclaims itself the "kumara capital of New Zealand" you should know not to expect too much.
The Ancient Kauri Kingdom is described as "tacky and overpriced, but still worth a stop."
The guidebook says it is where 50,000-year-old kauri stumps dragged out of swamps are fashioned into furniture, woodcraft products "and a fair bit of tourist tat."
The Bay of Islands gets similar damning with faint praise. While called "undeniably pretty", Lonely Planet says "the reality is that New Zealand has many beautiful spots and this bay, while wonderful, could be a teensy bit overhyped."
The Far North is described as always playing second fiddle to the Bay of Islands for attention and funding, "yet the subtropical tip of the North Island has more breathtaking coastline per square kilometre than anywhere but the offshore islands."
Similarly, Matauri and Tauranga bays have "awesome beaches a world away from the glitzy face presented for tourists in the Bay of Islands."
Hokianga, of all the remote parts of the North, feels the most removed from the mainstream, Lonely Planet says.
The remnants of the ancient kauri forests which once covered the North are an awe-inspiring sight and one of the nation's treasures. The guidebook praises the Footprints Waipoua tour of the Waipoua kauri forest, describing it as a fantastic introduction to Maori culture. Beaches are the main drawcard in Northland and Lonely Planet says there are beaches suited to all sorts of aquatic pursuits imaginable, including splashing around in the nuddy.