The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in New Zealand on Sunday. Photo / Getty Images
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will arrive in New Zealand on Sunday. Photo / Getty Images
Kiwi businesses are rolling out the red carpet and dusting off their best china ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex touching down in New Zealand tomorrow.
The couple's official four-day tour of Aotearoa kicks off in Wellington on Sunday.
First stop on the royal agenda - after being formally welcomed at Government House and attending various war memorial services and a reception celebrating 125 years of women's suffrage - will be Maranui Cafe in Wellington, for an event to meet youth from mental health projects.
Given the Duchess' pregnancy announcement, there will be no seafood on the menu that day, which looks to be a busy one, with an early start, says Maranui Cafe co-owner Bronwyn Kelly.
"We're very excited and very honoured," says Kelly, who found out the Lyall Bay cafe would host the parents-to-be at the beginning of this month.
The cafe is treating the royal engagement as a "street party" and expects floods of people to turn up. "I've had people from local schools contact me saying 'we're coming down with our class' and people call me from Whanganui and the South Island just to say they're coming to see them.
"As it's a private event we're closing Maranui cafe until 11am, but around the corner we have our other little deli and that's going to open specifically for the crowds. We're also going to have - just outside the barricades - a little emergency coffee cart to keep the royal fans highly caffeinated."
Kelly says palace staff travelled to New Zealand in advance of the pair's 16-day tour Downunder and had visited locations to bring the royals.
"From what I understand, there were people from the royal palace literally going throughout New Zealand and planning the itinerary and supposedly came to Maranui, loved the vibe and atmosphere, the casualness of it, and recommended that they would like to host an event there."
The Duke and Duchess will visit Abel Tasman National Park the following day, then travel to Auckland on October 30.
Maranui Cafe in Wellington will host the royals on Monday. Photo / Supplied
On Wednesday they will be in Auckland to attend a reception hosted by the Prime Minister at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
On Thursday the pair will be in Rotorua, where they will visit Te Papaiouru Marae and stop by nature park Rainbow Springs to learn about the centre's kiwi breeding programme.
They will then head to Redwoods Treewalk for the tree walk and to meet groups of local mountain bikers.
We're also going to have - just outside the barricades - a little emergency coffee cart to keep the royal fans highly caffeinated.
David Hennigan, Rainbow Springs' business manager, says the popular tourist attraction had brought forward its refurbishment plans for the kiwi area to accommodate the royal visit, which was arranged by conservation charity Kiwis for kiwi.
"Opportunities like this are very few and far between and we're delighted to be able to have the opportunity to share some of our work," says Hennigan.
Construction in the park began in July and final touches will be made this week ahead of the royal visit. The site will officially open to the public on November 12.
"The park is undergoing a phenomenal amount of refurbishment, specifically the kiwi facility, and when we understood this was first a possibility for us, we were in the very initial throes of construction," he says.
"We have accelerated our timeframe, not dramatically.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will visit Rainbow Springs nature park in Rotorua. Photo / Supplied
"Once the Duke and Duchess have been through the facility, we still have a little bit to do."
Harry and Meghan will spend around an hour at Rainbow Springs, where they see a health check on a kiwi hatchling and be briefed on the work of the National Kiwi Hatchery.
Redwoods Treewalk co-founder and managing director Bruce Thomasen says the tree-top attraction is putting the final touches on an exhibit set to open on the day the royals visit, and giving the park a spring cleaning ahead of the visit.
It's fabulous that the global stage is watching us, and Rotorua gets to be part of that.
"We've put in some additional planting, and spring cleaning. We're making sure everything looks sharp and the best it can be," Thomasen says.
He says all 16 of his staff put their hands up to work on the day of the visit - and friends and family of the staff also wanted to work.
"Everyone wants to work that day. We'll have the team there to greet and then we'll have a couple of guides to host them through the walk," he says.
"The whole team including myself are excited and feeling very privileged."
Staff members at Redwoods Treewalk in Rotorua are excited to host the royals. Photo / Supplied
Thomasen says he expects an increase in the park's international visitors following the royal visit. During summer it typically gets around 500 visitors a day.
"It's fabulous that the global stage is watching us, and Rotorua gets to be part of that."
The visit to New Zealand could help boost tourist numbers.
"From previous royal visits, it may provide exposure in markets you don't expect - we know that Germany follows the royals closely and clearly they will be closely followed in the UK," says Chris Roberts, chief executive of Tourism Industry Aotearoa.
"New Zealand fights for air time and getting into people's consciousness - so anything from the royals to Steven Adams to the All Blacks all helps."
