The Chief Executive of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, Courtney Johnston shares her fondness for a New Zealand holiday
What are your favourite memories from childhood family holidays in NZ?
I grew up on a dairy farm outside of New Plymouth. Every summer, in a break between two lots of hay-making, my parents would load the family into the station wagon and drive north before dawn for Auckland, where we would stay at my aunt and uncle's place in Remuera. For a week we lived with footpaths, bus routes, the fancy bakery in Meadowbank, the annual visit to Death By Chocolate and Rainbow's End, and the 277 mall in Newmarket, where one summer I had a memorable meltdown when my mother refused me a puffball skirt.
![Chief Executive of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa, Courtney Johnston. Photo / Te Papa](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/T4RJGLOFKLW6CBQGSIROAQKEFY.jpg?auth=de0654d3ca4112398f07e31860b9eba18721f10f0ba9f4eca11b13426d0cd793&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
Where is your favourite off the beaten track/secret spot in NZ to get away from it all and what makes it so special?