[InsanityWolf]

I was out in NZ last June and spent most of my time not climbing on the North Island due to the difficulty of finding any info on reasonably close areas, so I gave up and headed to Castle Hill for 4 days by myself.
I stayed in Springfield town, which if you have no transport of your own is an easy place to get dropped off/picked up on the bus from/to ChCh.
I stayed here: http://www.yha.co.nz/Hostels/South+Island+Hostels/Springfield/ and hitched into the boulders every morning and back every evening. Its about 25ish minutes drive (I think) to where the boulders are and extremely easy to get picked up, even with a pad!
Springfield also has a supermarket that sells tape, chalk and a wide variety of canned goods....all at extremely inflated prices...
Its obviously less viable for long periods of time as your paying for the hostel (They also rent pads...even though they're a little crappy), but if its a short enough stay and you dont have transport I'd rate it as a good option.
The Hostels really nice aswell! Lovely, massive fire every evening and there were some really nice guys up there fixing the railway tracks when I was there....the guy who runs it is a little odd though...

[SA Chris]

Is Springfield the place where there is a shop which makes exceptionally fine pies?

I seem to remember stopping for their exceptional lamb and mint pies several times.

[slackline]

Is Springfield the place where there is a shop which makes exceptionally fine pies?

 

[SA Chris]

We did that joke every time we drove through.

[Red Dwarf]

Hi Robin...

I've been living in Auckland for a while and so far I have to agree with the majority of what's been posted about Castle Hill basin , it will satisfy ALL of your cravings to fall off stuff, although I hope slopers are your thing...

If you have to be oop north you could always seek out places like Mangaotaki (central NI) or Turakirae (Wellington)... There's a couple of other interesting spots but info can be hard to come by......drop JP (Powerband.co.nz) a line... I'm pretty sure he'll point you in the right direction (if not drag you out to the 'rak)... He knows stuff  !!!

You could also have a mooch through mojozone.co.nz... there's some pretty enthusiastic people who will aim you in right direction!

If you need any info drop me a PM and I'll see what I can do for you...

Mike

[runt]

Second everything already said about the South Island and Castle hill, make a beeline for it (and check out the caving/underground river effort nearby too).

Re. AndyB and Waiheke island, well worth a day or two while you're in Auckland, assuming you'll arrive there? Not a large area but a nice quiet place to hang out, and some good large 'blob' style boulders, have an awesome trip!