Golden Week in Auckland City: blossom season at hybrid prices
Spring has a proper grip on Auckland City as Golden Week opens. Blossom still hangs on the oaks in Cornwall Park, and it stays light past 7pm. Mild mid-teens days suit a Waiheke ferry cruise or a slow loop of the west coast beaches, and the city hums along at a friendly pace until the holiday crowds arrive. And they do arrive: six of the eleven vehicles we track for these dates are already booked out. An early Auckland City car rental is the difference between choosing your car and taking whatever's left at the airport counter.
Ezi is the only supplier with Golden Week availability in Auckland City, and its five remaining vehicles span $510 to $1,270. The clever move aims low: the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid at $510 sits $300 under the $810 median and gives you more space than the smaller hybrids priced above it. Wait until landing day and you're choosing between the $918 average and whatever the counter still holds.
Seven of the eleven cars are hybrids, which suits Auckland's stop-start motorways and the run out to Piha. Nine of them seat five, with boots that really only fit soft bags. Spring around the Waitakeres can flip from sunshine to squall in an afternoon, but the 2WD crossovers in this fleet cope fine on wet roads at sensible speeds. Collect mid-morning, once the early international arrivals have cleared the desks, and you'll be over the Harbour Bridge before the lunchtime queue.