I just thought I'd write a little about Taranaki. Taranaki, being an exposed cape on the west coast of the north island, receives more quality swell than anywhere else in New Zealand.
Access is good because of the many farm roads that radiate out to the coast from the main road.
As Taranaki is a cape, the surfer is able to find offshore winds in everything except straight west, but beware, in spring west winds are quite common. There are good beach breaks in New Plymouth, just ask the locals. It is best from mid to high tide on a small to medium size swell. If the swell is big head north to fitzroy beach, or the reefs inbetween. This involves a 15-60 min.