Spy: Coronation Street star Colson Smith’s secret Kiwi summer holiday

Coronation Street actor Colson Smith. Photo / Instagram

Eager Coronation Street fans in Hawke’s Bay were thrilled to see one of the show’s stars in a local pub last weekend.

Colson Smith, best known for playing Constable Craig Tinker on the TVNZ 1 soap, swapped the Rovers Return in Weatherfield for Irish Pub The Rose & Shamrock in Havelock North.

One punter at the pub said the Coro star was with friends and a possible relative and looked to be enjoying himself.

For a country obsessed with Coronation Street as much as the UK, it’s rare to have a visit Down Under from one of its stars.

However, with 24-year-old Smith, there is a family connection that keeps him coming back.

In 2018 the Herald reported Colson was visiting for the third time. The UK star who has been on the cobbles for more than 12 years, reportedly has the majority of his father’s family in Dannevirke, including two aunts, two uncles and 10 cousins. NZ is like a second home.

He loves coming here for a second season of live cricket and has previously travelled all over the country especially enjoying the outdoor activities.

On this trip, Smith has shown his more than 170,000 followers on Instagram the sights and sounds he loves about Godzone.

On Boxing Day, he showed himself with two mates atop three 4WDs describing their action as a “NZ Top Gear Style Challenge”.

Hitting the country roads, he told his followers he was briefly leading the convoy but got stuck on the roads twice, broke down once and a tow rope snapped.

He took in some cricket at Fitzherbert Park Oval in Palmerston North and followed that up with a dip in the thermal pools in Rotorua.

Smith started the new year sky-high tandem paragliding in Queenstown and this week posed with mates in a selfie with Lake Taupō as the backdrop.