Pahi, another Kaipara Harbour coastal settlement, is not far away and worth visiting. So is the kauri museum at Matakohe.
Tinopai bach-owners often advertise places to rent in the Herald classifieds. Otherwise try the Tinopai Camping Grounds, on the waterfront.
WHANGAROA, NORTHLAND
There are those who might consider Whangaroa to be a poor cousin to the Bay of Islands. Certainly the two Northland east coast harbours have much in common.
Both are steeped in the history of Maori and Pakeha settlement, both spawned shipbuilding and trade and both are noted as bases for big-game fishing.
The Bay of Islands is the larger and attracts far more visitors. Whangaroa and its surrounds is less crowded, its charm more rough-edged. The deep harbour is considered by many to be one of the finest there is. You can check it out on a two-hour harbour cruise that leaves from Marlin Wharf at Whangaroa.
There is not much to the settlement but nearby are the wonderful sandy beaches of Tauranga and Taupo Bays, an 18-hole golf course at Whangaroa and the town of Mangonui, which boasts the best fish and chips shop in New Zealand and a nice range of craftshops.
Accommodation is plentiful but scattered. There are camping grounds at Tauranga and Taupo Bays, motels at Whangaroa, the Oceans Holiday Village at Matauri Bay, and a wide range of accommodation at Mangonui.
Many baches in the area are also available to rent. For general information see the Destination Northland and Twin Coast websites.
ROTORUA, BAY OF PLENTY
Rotorua is on almost every tourist's itinerary. Even young backpackers flock to its cheaper accommodation. Its popularity with visitors from abroad is perhaps why many locals may consider the thermal region a bit too touristy. Just try telling that to your children.
Rotorua is known for its thermal wonders, lakes and Maori heritage but as a resort town it has spawned a huge range of other attractions that make ideal family entertainment.
Your children will want to spend all day riding the luge on Mt Ngongataha. You can take them barnstorming in an open cockpit bi-plane, tandem parachute jumping, mountain biking or driving in an off-road vehicle.
If they ever tire of high adventure there are also more traditional activities, such as horse trekking, trout fishing, a trip to the top of Mt Tarawera, watching sheep being shorn, or just soaking in a hot mineral pool.
There are also several tours available including cruises on Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera.
Contact Tourism Rotorua.
HUNTER VALLEY, NEW SOUTH WALES
For a taste of the best of Aussie red direct from the vineyard, why not take a jaunt to the Hunter Valley. Fly to Sydney and pick up a hire car from the airport, point it north and negotiate your way through the minefields of a Sydney under reconstruction for the Olympics. About 160km later you'll be in the Hunter wine country.
Easter happily coincides this year with the end of a two-month long annual harvest festival involving more than 30 of the valley's famous wineries.
And the harvest news for wine-lovers is good - quantity is down but quality has improved.
"If you can't produce good wine this year, you never will," says Bruce Tyrrell, chief executive for the pioneer family company that first planted vines in the Hunter in 1858, and is a leading exporter.
The wine and tourist industries in the Hunter have learned to live together, to their mutual benefit.
Vineyard visits, tastings and cellar sales are a large part of the Harvest Festival and there's an expanding choice of accommodation, from the first class to the economical.
One Pokolbin winery popular with tourists is Tamburlaine, where Manda Duffy hosts up to 20 guests on visits of up to five hours, including a long lunch or dinner.
During the festival a series of two-day cooking schools organised by Norm Topp of Il Cacciatore is being held at eight leading restaurants.
Entertainment from jazz to Shakespeare features on the programme for the Hunter Valley Harvest Festival, between now and the end of April.
And if you tire of wine tasting there is no shortage pof golf courses in ther area as well as the famed surf beaches of Newcastle.
A booklet listing festival events, exhibitions and tastings is available from Hunter Valley Wine Country.
DUNK ISLAND, QUEENSLAND
Rain-forested Dunk Island, with its snorkel-friendly coral beaches and exquisite sunsets, rises out of the Coral Sea near the Great Barrier Reef, 4.5km off the Queensland coast midway between Cairns and Townsville.
The island is 1600km north of Brisbane and can be easily reached from Auckland by direct flight to Cairns. About 75 percent of the 6km-long, 2km-wide island is zoned as a national park.
The island's rain forest is home to a myriad of flora and fauna, 150 species of birds, many kilometres of walking tracks and the island's most famous symbol, the blue Ulysses butterfly.
At the centre of it all is the Dunk Island Resort, which has 148 rooms set on 14ha overlooking Brammo Bay.
The food at the two main Dunk Island restaurants is very good, with a spacious lounge and bar area offering beautiful sunset views while you relax in cushy leather chairs or large loveseats and sofas. There are two pool tables near the bar, and a large selection of board games available from the bar.
For those who want a quiet escape from civilisation, Dunk provides it and then some. But if you're looking for a more mobile form of holiday, the island also offers game fishing trips, scuba diving, jet ski and catamarans for hire, parasailing, sunset champagne sailing trips and nighttime nature walks.
It's a 20-minute flight in an 18-seat aircraft to Dunk Island. From the mainland, ferries and water taxis make the short run from Mission Beach, about a two-hour drive south of Cairns.
SUNSHINE COAST, QUEENSLAND
Everyone knows Queensland's Gold Coast - which if you don't like crowds or skyscrapers on the beach can be a problem. But Queensland's renowned sunshine shines perhaps a tad brighter just north of the capital of Brisbane.
The Sunshine Coast, about an hour and a half north on the Bruce Highway, is everything that the Gold Coast is - and everything that it isn't. On the Sunshine Coast you'll find top surf beaches and a host of tournament standard golf courses.
Then there are also those holiday resort attractions that range from crocodile parks to go kart tracks. But the highrises have thankfully been kept mostly at bay so the Sunshine Coast has a much less urban feel to it that its classy and glassy southern competitor.
There are up to 11 daily express coaches between Brisbane and the main Sunshine Coast towns of Moolooaba, Maroochydore, Coolum and Noosa. You can also fly there with Suncoast Pacific airlines.
The accommodation range is unlimited from five star hotels to self-contained holiday apartments and budget lodges.
As well as the obvious coastal attractions there are tours to inland rainforests and Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world.
Noosa is possibly the best known of the coast towns. The Noosa River and Sound provides a quiet boating alternative to the open coast. Eco tours voyage through the inland waters which are rich with colourful birdlife.
TURANGI, WAIKATO
There are those who have been waiting for Turangi at the southern end of Lake Taupo to blossom in a domino effect from the increasing tourist success of Taupo to the north.
It certainly hasn't happened yet; house prices haven't risen for years and you can still buy a two-bedroomed home on its own "quarter acre" for as little as $35,000. But Turangi, nestling between the lake and the bulk of Mt Pihanga, doesn't need flash growth to be worth a visit. It owes its existence to the sacred mountains of the Ngati Tuwharetoa, to trout and to a hydro electricty scheme.
The power project is long since finished but the trout and the mountains remain. The existence of trout doesn't just mean fishing. Lake Taupo is just as fine for boating at its southern end as it is at the north. And the Tongariro River, which has a worldwide reputation as a trout fishery, is also an excellent venue for rafting, kayaking or just walking beside the picnic.
In the hills and mountains of the Tongariro National Park to the south of the town are superb one-day or shorter walks. Easy walks are also available in the Kaimanawa Ranges.
At night, the hot pools at Tokaanu are a great spot in which to ease tired muscles before heading into Turangi township to dine in one of several excellent restaurants.
There is a wide range of places to stay including relatively cheap family accommodation at former power workers hostel. And if you yearn for a little more sophistication, Taupo is only 40 minutes away.
Turangi is about a four hour drive from Auckland and is on the regular Auckland to Wellington coach route.
Contact the local information centre or see the Department of Conservation's website for more information.
EAST OTAGO
East Otago is one of those small, self-contained regions that has taken to tourism in recent years like a proverbial duck to water.
The coastal slice of Otago, about three and a half-hours drive south of Christchurch or half an hour north of Dunedin, is centred on the town of Palmerston which, for ill-informed northerners, is why there is a Palmerston North.
The canny folk in the region have packaged together a small bundle of treasures which collectively make it worth visiting, particularly for anyone heading inland to the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trail.
The best known attraction is probably the 60 million-year-old Moeraki Boulders on Moeraki Beach. They range from 20cm babies to other 3m across.
At Bobby's Head, further south, are yellow-eyed penguins and a seal colony. And at Orokonui is the tallest tree in New Zealand.
QUEENSTOWN, OTAGO
There is just no denying it. Queenstown is New Zealand's only international standard resort town.
About the only thing you can't find in the region is surf. But when you can "surf" waves in rubber rafts on the Shotover and Kawerau Rivers, who cares?
In the town that invented bungy jumping and turned the Hamilton jet boat into a thrilling tourist ride, there are thrills aplenty.
If you want to go sailing, dig for gold, mountain bike, catch a mountain stream trout, paraglide or play golf, it's no problem.
This Easter you can also tootle over the Crown Range on a road that's now sealed and watch the famous Warbirds over Wanaka.
For more information on the Queen of the south see queenstownnz.co.nz.
HAWKES BAY
The 1931 Napier earthquake is hardly something to celebrate but it did leave a legacy that few people could complain about. The art deco attractions of Napier have found international renown, and deservedly so.
The town is unimaginably pleasant and along with the sight of lovingly restored building there are dozens of craft and gift shops.
Napier, reached by plane, bus or train, and about five hours drive from Auckland, is reason enough for a long break but there are many other attractions in the region too.
In the north is Mahia Peninsula, renowned for its fishing and surf beaches.
More than 30 wineries are scattered throughout the region including the Mission Estate, which was founded in 1851 by French Catholic missionaries and is the oldest in the country.
The gannet colony at Cape Kidnappers is another noted Hawkes Bay attraction.
And a special attraction at Easter are the Highland Games at Lindisfarne College, Hastings.
For further information contact Hawkes Bay Tourism.
