The best way to manage bored children, or phone-obsessed teenagers, in the school holidays is to physically exhaust them with forced marches through the many glorious bush, mountain, coastal and beach walks the Auckland region has to offer. They'll thank you later. Here are some of our favourites, plus more
School holiday hacks: What to do with the kids these winter holidays
11 mins to read
Hunua Falls. Photo / 123RF
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For a coast-to-coast experience that won't take you all day, head north to Whangaparaoa and try the Gulf Harbour coast-to-coast walk. Starting at the Gulf Harbour Marina, this is an easy 70-minute walk to do with younger children, as you'll pass two playgrounds and go through the Gulf Harbour village, where weary parents can grab a coffee at one of the cafes. If you're looking for something with fewer boats and more greenery though, carry on up the peninsula to family favourite Shakespear Regional Park, where you can do the 40-minute lookout path, the 60-minute heritage path or the full 80-minute Tiritiri path, and easily get in a full day of nature play.
South for bridges and dams
Heading down country, you can't beat the Hunua Ranges for some outdoor exploration with options. If you can't resist the bounce of a good suspension bridge, take the 75-minute Hunua Suspension Bridge Path that takes you on a loop, starting at the bridge and going via the breathtaking lookout platform over the Wairoa Reservoir. For more of a challenge, try the Hunua Cossey Dam Path which is a 90-minute return trip across gravel, boardwalk and bush tracks, plus a wade across the Cossey Creek. If you're more of a "let's not and say we did" person, then there's always the short 800m loop track to the Hunua Fall. It's less than walking the length of Sylvia Park and you can take your photo for the gram and fool everyone into thinking you're an outdoor adventure god/goddess.
Go east for the beach
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If a gentle coastal walk is your style, you don't have to go too far east for a flat path: take a one-hour return trip along Bucklands Beach, or an easy 40-minute return along Eastern Beach. There's a great bike path from Beachlands to Maraetai and the Maraetai Beach Path itself is a very manageable 3km return. The pinnacle of eastern beach exploration is Duder Regional Park, where you can do some spectacular birdwatching on the Duck Bay Path or get your gumboots on and adventure through the Farm Path or the Sustainable Path.
Go to aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/parks-recreation/get-outdoors/aklpaths for more information on these and other walking paths in the Auckland Region.
WHAT'S ON THIS WEEKEND AND BEYOND
Winter on Waiheke
If the school holidays are already driving you to drink then you might like to take up the Fullers360 Winter Wine and Dine package for a sophisticated day of good food and a good vino on the island - preferably sans rugrats. The package includes a return ferry from downtown, a multi-course lunch and glass of wine at either Batch Winery, Cable Bay or Stonyridge, as well as all on-island transport. Batch Winery is offering a high-tea with a glass of Thomas' Field Blend Rosé; Cable Bay is doing burrata pizzas with your choice from the Awatere Valley range, and Stonyridge has abundant platters with a glass of their own syrah. Leave your worries at the ferry terminal and escape to Waiheke for a day, cosying up fireside with a glass of wine.
Friday-Sunday until October. Tickets $125 from fullers.co.nz/winter-wine-and-dine
Pacific Dance Digital Festival
You only have to briefly glance at the Pacific Dance Festival programme to glean that the Pacific Dance scene is thriving in Aotearoa. Featuring a combination of digital, virtual and in-person shows and workshops, the festival showcases some outstanding talents including: Shel We? a film by award-winning choreographer Tupua Tigafua; MOANA featuring Desiree Soo-Choon, Anton Pulefale, Keesha King, Losaline Tupou, Laifa Ta'ala and Toa Paranihi and Brydie Colquhoun from The New Zealand School of Dance; Dance Battle by Hadleigh Pouesi and Fresh Movement Trust and loads more. If you subscribe to the festival channel for $5, from Monday you'll have access to all the 2022 digital content. Or if you'd like to participate a little more actively, today there's a free workshop at Māngere Arts Centre run by IAMMD (I Am My Mothers Daughter) with Viva-Leah Palalagi-Elesoni, next Saturday July 16 is Tahitian Dance with Tahiti Ia Ora, and July 23rd is Kuki Airani and Ei Katu with Aunty Kura Taruia.
On now until July 31. Visit pacificdance.co.nz/festival for the full programme.
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Art and AI
Get your art fix at North Art where exhibitions from Boy + Girl (Auckland-based artists Bryn Evans and Nikki McLay) and Stuart Bridson are opening this afternoon. Boy + Girl uses "conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI), Film and Design" in order to provoke genuine moments of connection between humans and machines - a tad disquieting perhaps? In this exhibition, This is What I Left You, they use AI to reconstruct childhood memories of a family garden and seek to start a conversation around our collective responsibilities as architects of AI. Bridson, a Raglan-based sculptor, deconstructs his artworks in this exhibition, Disassemble, presenting the sculptures as individual parts and challenging us to consider how we read objects and create associations when our expectations are subverted.
Opening Saturday July 9, 2pm-4pm; exhibiting July 12-August 20. North Art, Norman King Square, Northcote, Auckland. FREE.
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Reminding us that the struggles of being human never really change, Eugene O'Neill's 1956 play Long Day's Journey Into Night recounts a single day in the life of the Tyrone family. Starring Theresa Healey, Stephen Lovatt, Jarod Rawiri and Simon Leary, the play deals with psychosis and drug addiction, regret, misguided optimism, mental health and the complexities of familial relationships. O'Neill received a posthumous Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for this autobiographical play. It's a classic and we have no doubt this seasoned cast will take you on an adventure through the complete emotional spectrum with their performance of it.
On now until July 30. Q Theatre, 305 Queen St, Auckland. Tickets $30-$69 + booking fee from atc.co.nz or 0800 ATC TIX
Matariki city lights
It's not too late to take in Tūrama, the visually stunning and thoughtful light installation that's illuminating the CBD this Matariki. Starting from Te Komititanga/Downtown square there's a series of art works lighting up Queen Street and celebrating the history of the Wai Horotiu valley - what is now our city centre. There's Pakiata Matariki - a digitally projected retelling of the story of Matariki - playing every 15 minutes between 6pm and 9pm; there's a gateway/waharoa marking the point where the land once met the sea at the intersection of Shortland and Queen Streets; there's Kaitiaki II and Te Waka Taumata o Horotiu, two impressive works by celebrated artist Fred Graham; there are birds with wingspans of up to four metres suspended above Queen Street and there's Manu Koroki, a flock of indigenous birds outside the St James Theatre, accompanied by audible birdsong. Each artwork has a related QR code you can scan on your travels through the city to learn more. Queen Street has really come to life this matariki and there's only one more week to experience it, so skedaddle.
On now until July 16. Queen Street, Auckland CBD. FREE.
Plan ahead: Great Night In
At this time of year, living in a cesspit of viruses, it's not hard to convince anyone to have a night in, but next Sunday July 17 is the official Great Night In to support Women's Refuge. Our domestic violence statistics are horrifying and getting worse. For thousands of New Zealand women and children, a night in isn't great at all - it isn't even safe - but you can gift a safe night to someone in need for $20. Visit the Safe Night website, purchase as many safe nights as you can afford and choose from a number of Great Night In treats to make your Sunday night in a cosy one. There's Whittaker's chocolate, Garage Project beer, a cosy bundle from The Warehouse, Hell Pizza, access to Neon's 500 new release films, or simply double your contributions by getting Contact Energy to match your Safe Night purchase. Tell your friends and whānau to get involved too and enjoy a great night in while gifting a safe night to someone else.
July 17. Visit safenight.nz/pages/great-night-in to purchase safe nights and for more information.
Project Ruru
Looking for a fun, environmentally conscious day out with the kids? Take a drive to The Sculpture Park in Tauwhare to see the newly landed ruru sculptures by 15 local artists. Project Ruru aims to bring awareness to the plight of the ruru (morepork), which is Aotearoa's only native owl and needs protection. Wander the park to see if you can spot the unique ruru sculptures and maybe even a live sleeping ruru if you're lucky. Together, the Sculpture Park, Wingspan, Mitre 10 and WINTEC students have also made 20 nesting boxes that will be used to protect birds throughout the Waikato. There's fun activities today and tomorrow for the opening weekend, and the exhibition will continue throughout the holidays.
Opening July 9 and running until July 31. The Sculpture Park at Waitakaruru Arboretum, 207 Scotsman Valley Road, Tauwhare 3287. Tickets $15 from sculpturepark.co.nz
STAYING IN? HERE'S WHAT TO WATCH
Black Bird (Apple TV+)
Taron Egerton, the only actor in the history of film to play Eddie the Eagle, Robin Hood and Elton John, is now a convicted drug dealer who gets made an offer he can't refuse in Black Bird. Based on James Keene's autobiographical book In With the Devil, the offer is this: freedom, in exchange for getting a confession from his serial killer cellmate Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser, star of the movie Richard Jewell) and finding out where the bodies are buried. Greg Kinnear and Ray Liotta also star in a miniseries that is probably not going to be a relaxing watch, but a good one.
Life After Life (TVNZ+)
Last time Thomasin McKenzie was on a TV show was when her character Pixie got killed off from Shortland Street. Since then she's been in movies directed by Taika Waititi, Edgar Wright, Jane Campion and M Night Shyamalan and basically become a proper Hollywood movie actor. Now she returns to the small screen for the BBC adaptation of Kate Atkinson's novel Life After Life as Ursula Todd, an early 20th century Englishwoman who keeps dying and being reborn to start all over again. It's a tearjerker, but will it be as sad as Pixie dying of pneumonia? Hard to say.
Pirate Gold of Adak Island (Netflix)
If the beautifully bucolic Detectorists gave you an insatiable taste for watching blokes slowly scan a field with metal detectors then this may be the documentary you've been waiting for. It's set on the remote Alaskan island of Adak (which is actually closer to Japan than it is to the contiguous US), where in the 1800s a pirate allegedly buried hundreds of tins of gold coins. A couple have been found before, but now the island's mayor wants to find the rest to save the island, so the experts have been called in. Beneath the macho Nat Geo channel narration it's actually a pleasantly slow and nerdy hunt, regardless of what they do or don't end up finding.
