I secured a place to stay very close to the event using Nirvana. I think they bought up most of the hotel rooms before the public could reserve them. Does anybody know of a transfer bus that will take passengers and a bike box from the Auckland airport to Taupo? I’d rather not rent a car.
I’ve got a friends Mum who works in one of the hotels in Taupo, and she said that Nirvana has just booked all of their rooms that they could for those dates.
Intercity goes from Auckland international airport to Taupo. You will have to transfer and it’s a 6 hour trip (normally a 3 1/2 hour by car)
I’ve never used them for bike transport they do say (https://www.intercity.co.nz/travel-info/baggage-and-terms/oversized-items) so you’d have to check that
The normal way to get from Akl to Taupo is to fly - regional flights. That said race week will be a bit of a shitshow in terms of bikes as there’s limited capacity on the Q300s especially, and even the ATR72s for bikes. The bus will be a nightmare.
Note if you do end up driving then there’s a few things. 1) There is a shortage of rental cars still, so make sure you do book in advance. 2) The first bit of the drive is OK, it’s about the only bit of motorway/freeway in NZ, but even then it’s down to 2 lanes each way after a few KM. But then once you’re off that then the road will be a lot narrower and windy than you expect. So plan for lower speed, and taking more breaks than normal. That said there are some truly amazing places to detour on teh way.
One ‘solution’ to both of the issues is what I did first time - campervan. Got met at the airport, had a 5 berth camper for the 2 of us, the bike went above the cab in the double bed there, and we slept in the double bed at the back of the van. Drove very car like, just needed to be a little steady in a tropical storm that was hitting the first few days.
One ‘solution’ to both of the issues is what I did first time - campervan. Got met at the airport, had a 5 berth camper for the 2 of us, the bike went above the cab in the double bed there, and we slept in the double bed at the back of the van. Drove very car like, just needed to be a little steady in a tropical storm that was hitting the first few days.
Do you remember the company you used to rent the campervan? Thanks!
There’s a website www.camplify.co.nz which is like Air BnB for campers. Rent directly from the owner. You could pick-up / drop-off in Auckland.
I haven’t used it. Just found it the other day.
Are you in the heritage wing or the new part? Whilst I generally much prefer the character of the heritage wing the rooms are incredibly noisy. They are above the bar/restaurant and there’s no noise suppression between downstairs and the upstairs roomed amplified by the wooden floors. So this means that on a night, it’s noisy to midnight with the customers, and then the clearing /cleaning of bar, and then really early in the morning (ie 4:430am) with them setting up for breakfast. Just mentioning it as you may want to take some earplugs, etc if a light sleeper. Plus side is massive rooms so plenty of space for a bike (in a case/bag). Don’t pay for the parking, just use the gravel park outside.
Oh and make sure you book a private spa at debretts next door for the Sunday. Just make sure you give yourself a lot of time to walk down there (and even longer on the way back up)!
I secured a place to stay very close to the event using Nirvana. I think they bought up most of the hotel rooms before the public could reserve them. Does anybody know of a transfer bus that will take passengers and a bike box from the Auckland airport to Taupo? I’d rather not rent a car.
Same problems here. All sites that I tried were all out of rooms even late last year. Thanks for the Holiday Houses link, the options are ok but still better than no option at all.
Question: Which part of the Lake will be the Swim leg? Based on what I’ve read it will be Acacia Bay? But not 100% sure.
Same problems here. All sites that I tried were all out of rooms even late last year. Thanks for the Holiday Houses link, the options are ok but still better than no option at all.
Question: Which part of the Lake will be the Swim leg? Based on what I’ve read it will be Acacia Bay? But not 100% sure.
The swim is not that far around and starts in Taupo proper. It’s basically dead centre along the waterfront (look for Rifle Range road and it’s right there (transition etc as well)
My sister has lived in New Zealand for over 40 years. She called the Holiday Park, and as I suspected, the Ironman organization has booked all the rooms in that park. Their website says to book on your own, but like you, IKnowEverything, everything except hours away or camping is booked. Come on Ironman, if you want us to attend these events, make it somewhat reasonable. We are 9 months out and everything is booked? There has to be a better solution. What are you doing with all the rooms you booked? Is that support staff? Taupo is a beautiful place, but if it can’t acommodate the 2000+ athletes, what’s the point?
David Trewavas, mayor of Taupo, what is your solution ?
In a 2019 report Taupo had an accommodation capacity of ~4000 beds per night. With trends in this country over the last 5 years that is unlikely to have risen.
Total attendance for the event could be 4000 athletes, which means another couple of thousand supporters, plus event and industry staff.
Thus the excess has to be handled by Rotorua
Yes I don’t know what the mayor could do either if there aren’t enough physical places, but I hope they have a plan for traffic flow, and they need to limit the athletes participating if possible. It won’t be a nice experience if everyone has to drive an hour and then hunt for parking. I was able to book an AirBnB in Acacia Bay for a reasonable price compared to some. Fingers crossed.
Hello everyone- I’m even more late to the party and the options for a solo traveller look extortionate! A long shot, but wondering if anyone has an airbnb with a spare room they’re looking to fill?
My suggestion is if it’s a venue you want to to race, 12 months out book an airbnb regardless of whether or not you qualify. Airbnb let’s you pay like half now instead of the full amount. Just make sure it’s one you can cancel for 100% refund if for some reason you dont qualify.
In my case my wife and I have frequent flyer miles and we each use the premium miles cards that earn us plenty of bonus miles throughout the year. So the flights are “free” and we’re paying a normal rate for the airbnb.
On the FB group for the race, people are reporting that the Airbnb they booked at a reasonable price cancelled on them and relisted on another app/site for triple the price. I heard similar tales from Kona and Lahti as well.
My suggestion is if it’s a venue you want to to race, 12 months out book an airbnb regardless of whether or not you qualify. Airbnb let’s you pay like half now instead of the full amount. Just make sure it’s one you can cancel for 100% refund if for some reason you dont qualify.
In my case my wife and I have frequent flyer miles and we each use the premium miles cards that earn us plenty of bonus miles throughout the year. So the flights are “free” and we’re paying a normal rate for the airbnb.
On the FB group for the race, people are reporting that the Airbnb they booked at a reasonable price cancelled on them and relisted on another app/site for triple the price. I heard similar tales from Kona and Lahti as well.
This happened to me in kona and I ended up having to stay in Waikola village .
Booked dec 2019 for 2020, got moved to 2021 then to 2022 then canceled on me in April 2022 and said sorry, then price hike once I was out. I booked at $150 a night so they knew they could get $600 in 2022.
For Taupo Ironman and taupo hotel industry has done the price hike and made sure we all pay a lot. Sucks for sure. If you didn’t book along time ago you are at there mercy “ know that before you take the slot “ hotel are very expensive