My partner & I will fly into Auckland atabout 2.30pm in November.
Is it practicable to pick up a pre-booked hire car and drive straight to Paihia, or should we aim to go only as fsar as Whangarai the first night???

um, traffic can get hellish across the harbour bridge if u go that way up to Northland at about 4pm onwards(ie;gridlock) but getting up to the bay of islands by evening is quite feasible, don't forget to check out some of the east coast beaches and surrounding areas just north of auckland and around whangarei, well worth it.. i have just moved back to NZ after a decade in Oz and am blown away by how lovely the north is, if you time it right alot of the top spots are all yours with few people around, enjoy!

Bay Of Islands is about 3.5 hours north of auckland, easy driving but the roads are more winding than in australia (speaking as an ex victorian) We find Paihia very touristy, but then we live in Hokianga which is so beautiful and hardly any tourists so we are a bit spoilt. Try heading further up north if you have teh time, go to the karikari peninsula, and try and make your way over to Omapere, so much prettier than BOI.
Watch out for 50km speed limits through towns
check out www.newzealand.com for mor einfo on driving times and lists of accommodations and activities