To keep you occupied during your stay. Rodney covers two distinct coastlines, the Tasman in the West and the Pacific in the East. The Twin Coast Discovery Highway takes you through these Coastal areas. Heading North from Auckland, exit off the Northern motorway and go through Silverdale on State Highway 1. Continue till the traffic lights at the top of the hill. Turn right here to explore The Whangaparaoa Peninsula or straight through to Orewa.  At Orewa wander across the road to the beach reserve. You will probably see quite a few kite surfers here if the conditions are right. Still on State Highway 1, Hatfield's Beach is over the hill  while Waiwera  and it's thermal Resort is over the next hill. Over the bridge from Waiwera and up the hill, Wenderholm entrance is on the right.                                          
 Continuing over the hill you can track the Puhoi River on the right and Waiwera River is on the left. Puhoi is the next town of interest with its Bohemian community and the famous Puhoi Tavern. Continuing north one comes to Warkworth. From here roads lead to a plentiful supply of magnificent coastal communities and Parks and reserves of the Kowhai Coast.
 Goat Island  is one such Marine Reserve. Be sure to stop at Seafriends at the top of Goat Island Road for hire dive gear or refreshments and support the hard work these people do. The road to Martins bay takes you past  The Sandspit and Snells Beach not forgetting Scott's Landing.
Heading north from Wellsford, the next town you come to is Te Hana. The main employer was the dairy factory which is now closed.  Here you may see some works by local craftspeople such  as EnviroNZ who do bronze
sculptures of endangered native species. Well worth a look. Wellsford and Te Hana are the  northernmost towns of Rodney. Continuing this route we enter the Kaipara Region. On SH1  From Wellsford, Provincial Highway 16 meanders its way to Helensville.
Watch out for the logging trucks using this stretch of road. From here the Southern half of the magnificent Kaipara Harbour can be explored. Also the Parakai hot pools are in easy reach. While in Helensville There are three nice antique and curio shops in the old picture theatre and in the old Post Office. Southward on  highway 16 you come into Waimaku. The Muriwai surf Beach turn off is here. Continue down (16) a few more kilometres to Huapai and Kumeu.
Highway 16 continues back to Auckland or take (18) to explore Riverhead and it's pioneer museum.
An alternative way to Riverhead is by ferry from Auckland.