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Road

Driving in New Zealand is easy and cheap, although Auckland is the busiest area by far. A valid national driving licence is all that is required for driving in New Zealand for up to 12 months. Traffic drives on the left and most roads are very quiet. The maximum legal alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.08% (0.03% for under 20-year-olds). Speed limits are 100kph (62mph) on open roads, 50kph (31mph) in urban areas, and 20kph (12mph) in the vicinity of a stopped school bus. There are 'Limited Speed Zones' where the speed limit is often reduced from 100kph to 50kph in adverse conditions. The New Zealand Automobile Association (web site: www.nzaa.co.nz ) provides information on road conditions (tel: (0900) 33222) and general information (tel: (0800) 500 222).

Emergency breakdown service:
NZ AA (0800) 500 222

Routes to the city:
Main routes from Auckland are the SH1 north along the east coast of North Island to Warkworth and the Bay of Islands; the SH18/16 north along the west coast of North Island through Helensville; the SH1 south to Hamilton and Rotorua; and the SH22 south to Raglan.
Driving times to Auckland: from Rotorua - 2 hours 30 minutes; Bay of Islands - 3 hours; Wellington - 7 hours 30 minutes.

Coach services:
Auckland has good coach links with other main New Zealand towns and cities, as well as the more popular tourist areas. These operate from the Sky City Coach Terminal, 102 Hobson Street (tel: (09) 366 6400), where there are basic facilities, such as left-luggage, cafÉ and toilets. The main operator throughout New Zealand is InterCity (tel: (09) 357 8400), with Newmans (tel: (09) 309 9738) also having a good service mainly in the North Island. Smaller operators include C Tours (tel: (09) 758 1777) to New Plymouth, Geyserland Express (tel: (09) 357 6616) to Rotorua, The Little Kiwi Bus (tel: (0800) 759 999) to Hamilton and Northliner Express (tel: (09) 307 5873) to the Bay of Islands.



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