Vegan Travel: New Zealand North Island (Part 2)

Vegan Travel: New Zealand North Island (Part 2)

Through this blog I will outline the second half of our trip – what we ate in New Zealand and how to find plant-based food options in New Zealand’s North Island, focusing on primary pointers I think are useful for other travelers. Check out our New Zealand Travel blogs for the North Island and the South Island to see where we went for our full itinerary and our activities in each city.

We had a most incredible trip around New Zealand. We did a full two-island tour in two weeks. In this blog post I’ll tell you how to eat vegan in New Zealand’s North Island in the cities we went to over two weeks. If you’re just jumping to this blog, be sure to go over to Vegan Travel: New Zealand South Island (Part. 1) first.

Overview of our vegan travel itinerary:

Covered in Vegan Travel New Zealand South Island (Part 1)

Flew (LAX) Los Angeles, CA to (AUK) Auckland, NZ, short layover, AUK to (CHC) Christchurch, NZ

One day in Lake Tekapo

One day in Mount Cook National Park

Two days in Wanaka

Two days in Te Anau

One day in Milford Sound

Two days in Queenstown

Covered in this blog: Vegan Travel New Zealand North Island

Flew Queenstown to Auckland

One day in Waitomo

One day in Taupo

One day in Rotorua

One day in Hahei

Three days in Auckland

Flew out of Auckland back to Los Angeles

Flew Queenstown to Auckland

One day in Waitomo

We flew into Auckland, drove 2.5 hours to Waitomo Adventures and went on a 4 hour caving adventure.

Because we flew in and drove directly to the cave adventure we made sure to pack groceries for the drive over. There is a Subway in Otorohanga and there is a Pita Pit in Hamilton. Both Subway and Pita Pit have vegan options. Pita Pit is far and away the winner, from my perspective.

One day in Taupo

In Taupo we stopped by a grocery store and re-upped on our vegan groceries to snack on in between meals.

Dinner: Master of India – This was a lovely meal. The portion sizes were good. They had a large offering of vegan menu items and the server was knowledgeable about what the best vegan options were.

There are other Indian restaurants in Taupo as well and Indian food is usually pretty easy to get vegan. There is a very large Indian vegetarian population, so you usually only have to ask to ensure there is no dairy.

Breakfast: BodyFuel Cafe – I can only mostly recommend this place. They did have well labeled vegan, gluten free, vegetarian, refined sugar free, etc. dishes. HOWEVER, one of our vegan dishes had a sauce (that was significant to the composition of the dish) and the sauce had dairy in it…? So I ordered the vegan plate, it arrived with a suspiciously creamy sauce, I checked with the waiter, and he apologized, but said they didn’t have any vegan sauce to replace it… Hmmm…
Anyway, they did have some awesome vegan options – but be careful when you order.

One day in Rotorua

We went out to dinner that night to a lively little area of town called Eat Street that had lively music, fun restaurants and an energetic vibe. There are a number of restaurants that may have had modifiable vegan options. However we decided to make it easy and go to a restaurant with a vegan menu!

Atticus Finch – This up-scale dining spot had a vegan menu with real chef-designed entrees!

One day in Hahei

On our way to Hahei the next morning we stopped by an awesome little café (cash only!) that had organic, wholesome menu items. They were creative making us vegan foods:

Villa Nine Health & Coffee Shop – this is a little hole in the wall that you won’t notice unless you’re looking for. It’s a gem though! Remember to bring cash.

In Hahei, taking the ferry across to the esplanade:

Blue Ginger – The service was pretty awful – maybe the waitress was having a bad day. But they had a vegan menu! So we were happy with that.

A 10 minute stroll down the esplanade brings you to:

Stoked – an adorable sea-themed restaurant with water views. We were able to get some vegan options and a yummy beer to warm us up before the romantic ferry return to our side of the water.

Three days in Auckland

Revive Café – Plant powered food!

Burger Fuel – They have a vegan menu and they are able to cook their vegan menu items separate from their animal products! Yay!

Food Alley – This is a little hole in the wall food court with many Asian food spots that have vegan options.

Lord of the Fries – I won’t say this place is healthy but it is so fun to see. It has milkshakes, loaded chili cheese fries, big fatty burgers and more – and everything is vegan!!! They are eco-friendly and focused on reducing harm to animals. We loved stopping by.

Café Hanoi – This is an upscale Asian fusion restaurant served family style. We met up with some friends and we were able to order about 7 vegan items. They were delicious!

Headquarters – This place probably doesn’t belong on this blog because we didn’t eat here, but it was so fabulous I had to mention it. It is a pricey and boogey place with incredible views of the water, bean bag chairs, shuffleboard, live music and fun vibes. However, before sunset, they have an incredible happy hour. So if you’re looking for a fun place to come hangout, I highly recommend it.

Flew out of Auckland back to Los Angeles

We left in the afternoon of our last day, got rid of all of our remaining food (which cannot travel internationally with you). Made sure our laptop was cached with TV shows and movies, and headed to the airport back home 😊

Thank you for reading 🙂

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