The Splash Park at Good Planet in Riverhead will provide hours of entertainment this summer. Photo / Good Planet
If, like me, you have a fear of being stuck indoors with bored children; Paw Patrol on repeat and Play-Doh pushed into obscene places, here are eight of Auckland’s best family days out.
Part of the Stanmore Bay Pool and Leisure Centre, the XL splash pad is completely free and has been drenching kids since 2017. Those still discovering it for the first time will wish they’d found it sooner. Perfect for scorching summer days, there are spray jets, sprinklers and a giant, elevated water bucket that will periodically empty its contents on to your head. More frequently than you may have bargained for. There’s also an astroturf embankment and picnic benches. Partly covered, if it gets too hot, or you have a child that takes issue with the dump bucket, there’s also an indoor pool and hot tub area, including a heated toddler’s pool. Children under 16 years old are free, adults cost $8.20 and $1 for an extra supervising adult. That’s $10 for a full afternoon of fun.
HOT TIP: Stanmore Bay Beach sits opposite the leisure centre and the adjacent playground and playing field are also good areas for tuckering out your tots.
There are various strawberry-picking farms in Kumeū and the surrounding area, but Good Planet in Riverhead offers a one-stop shop for endless entertainment. A shuttle bus provides drop off and pick up from the strawberry fields (other berries also available) where you can fill a bucket with delicious fresh fruit. Of course, eating on the job is frowned upon and no one has ever done it. I definitely didn’t catch my 2-year-old son’s mouth dripping in juice. When certain individuals (read as dad) inevitably get bored, return to Good Planet HQ for the cafe, real-fruit ice cream and adventure park, complete with various inflatables, bouncy castles and slides. There’s also a huge splash park with five daily sessions lasting 90 minutes. This one doesn’t come cheap if you pay for every activity but you could cherry-pick your favourite must-dos or pack a picnic and stay all day, making it more cost-effective.
HOT TIP: Book the splash park online ahead of time to avoid missing your preferred slot. Don’t forget your togs - and socks if you’re hitting the inflatables.
The onsite Pūkeko Cafe is very popular and seems to draw brunch-goers from far and wide with its large eggs bene and pretty courtyard - and that’s all before you reach the pony rides. Kiwi Valley Park is the perfect petting zoo for kids interested in farm animals. Feed the sheep, goats and cattle (feed included in your ticket price) and make friends with a few tame snouts eager to scoff more munch than their neighbour. Take a short tractor ride around the top paddock and sit down to pet a rabbit. The staff will pop a square of carpet on your knee and offer a choice of bunnies, rats (the non-sewer kind) and guinea pigs, all tame enough to sit and enjoy the adoration. We also saw kittens and rat pups; the latter are far cuter than you’d expect. All the animals are incredibly gentle but if you have a “townie” in your midst, i.e. a toddler adverse to cow licks, there’s also a big sand pit, playground and a maze to enthrall.
HOT TIP: Adults are $18 each and kids under 18 months old are free. Depending on your set-up, a $55 family pass for four people might be the best option.
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Heads up, you’re going to need a double coffee this morning. Live Wire is like crack for kids and your old bones need to keep up. It’s also an excellent option for rainy days. Located in Highbury Mall, this former venue for The Warehouse is colossal. Home to more arcade machines and neon lights than you can cast your deteriorating eyesight over, wander past the fluorescent games (awash with tweens and teens) and find the enormous ball pond, trampoline park, foam pit and inflatable park. There are slides and tunnels and elevated walkways that traverse the entire complex, and to be completely honest, parents have a blast too. Cue the arguments with your partner over who’s the “supervising adult”. Our toddler really enjoyed Minitown, complete with fire engines, grocery stores, a doctor’s surgery and more. The following day we went again: a guaranteed three-hour nap for our son. Now that’s bliss.
HOT TIP: But wait there’s more. Including a climbing wall, bowling, curling, laser tag and a fully licensed bar and restaurant (costs are extra). There’s also a second Live Wire venue at Sylvia Park.
Another no-brainer for a hot day is Point Erin Pools in Herne Bay. Children under 16 are free and adults’ prices start from $7.20 (and $4.50 for an extra adult) so it’s also a good option for keeping the bank balance in check. Boasting a large outdoor pool, dive area, water slides and hot pools, there’s a little slice of aquatic fun for every member of the family. One of the smaller, deeper pools is home to a diving board and two white-knuckle water slides that albeit short, offer all-day screams for daredevils (and belly flops for 90kg dads reliving their nimble, 9-year-old youth). Large grassy areas and two playgrounds, one inside and one directly outside the complex allow families to mix it up between water play and running about to get dry.
HOT TIP: If you have tiny swimmers in tow, there is a separate toddler pool and the main pool enjoys a wide, shallow end that’s perfect for smaller legs.
Matakana has a lot to entice adults, including weekend markets and a plethora of gourmet delights, but if such niceties are considered “boooooooring” by your backseat dictators, take a trip to Ti Point Reptile Park. A leisurely 10-minute drive from Matakana’s bustling centre, we found New Zealand’s only reptile park to be near-deserted. In a good way. Steep paths descend quickly into thick forestry, with serene views out to sea and hens clucking at your feet. Spacious enclosures house lizards and geckos, tortoises, iguanas, tuatara and the odd alligator. It was so peaceful, we didn’t need to clamber to find a spot to view the wildlife, wait our turn, or hurry up for other visitors. The residents are cool, calm and curious – nonchalantly coming up for a good stare, and when you’re knee-high, like my son, that’s practically nose-to-nose.
HOT TIP: Pack a picnic and stay longer. Adult admittance from $22, under 5s are free, or grab a family pass (2 adults, 2 children) for $60.
There’s a small playground near Motat’s entrance, as well as puddles and pigeons to chase: the “fun trifecta” if you’re a toddler. Just as we started to wonder if we should’ve bothered buying tickets, the Pump House expelled a huge, steam-powered horn blow, and all the children went cuckoo. From here we observed various locomotives and automobiles and watched in horror as Gen Z-ers gawked at an “ancient” piece of history – a Nokia 3310. We played with foam bricks and kinetics at ‘Motots’, a designated area for smaller kids, and took the free tram to Motat’s second venue, an enormous hangar packed with aeroplanes. No need to bother reading the info panels, there are 7-year-olds in this place whowill reel off every detail: “That’s an Avro Lancaster bomber plane, mum”. (Not my son, someone else’s. My son was blowing raspberries at a helicopter).
HOT TIP: AA Membership holders get 20 per cent off general admission tickets.
Auckland Museum has a new pop-up cinema with two 3D films you can don some fetching 3D glasses for. Another great option if the weather isn’t playing ball (or you’re on the verge of sunstroke), head inside for an afternoon of air-conditioned and learning. Museum Alive is a new, 40-minute film by Sir David Attenborough, taking Kiwis on a journey through London’s Natural History Museum, bringing various long-extinct residents back to life as you go. For those with smaller attention spans, there’s also Dinosaurs of Antarctica, a 20-minute scramble through the south polar landscapes of Antarctica from days well preceding your grandma (roughly hundreds of millions of years ago). Expect to come face-to-face with dinosaurs and XL amphibians in a sunless winter. Combine this with everything else the museum has to offer, including the popular Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit and a Wildlife Snap-Happy Safari quest, which involves using clues and good nous to track down wild animals hiding in the museum, and voila, you have a full day of disguised education.
When there's nothing as far as the eye can see, you may appreciate the company.