Archives: Activities

A base custom post type

Chocolate Fish Cafe, Miramar, Wellington

This is a well known little gem of a cafe on the Miramar Peninsular to the East of Wellington. There is indoor seating but most people go when the sun is shining, to take seats outside and relax while their kids are playing. There’s a big concrete area with a wide…

Tawhiti Museum, Hawera, Taranaki

Kids On Board no thumbnail

This is made up of 3 different attractions; a museum, a (new) Traders and Whalers Museum and a separate Bush railway ride (limited operating times, see under ‘Open’). It is worth deciding which part your kids will enjoy most and just paying for one attraction at a time, as there’s…

Butlers Reef, Oakura, Taranaki

Kids On Board no thumbnail

This pub also seems to be known as The Butlers Bar and Cafe. This is a family friendly pub serving good pub food. There’s a separate kids’ menu with all the usual pub staples on it (fish and chips, burgers etc). It has a garden area big enough to kick…

The Seaside Market, New Plymouth

This family friendly market runs on the first Sunday of every month (check website for dates) and is the biggest market in Taranaki. A good atmosphere is created by local artists who come along and play music. There are stalls selling food and locally made produce including clothes, jewellery and home…

Harcourt Park, Upper Hutt

A great playground within a lovely park with a lot to do for the whole family. There’s an area for bigger kids that allows climbing, sliding, balancing and swinging skills to be tested. There’s also a good long and reasonably fast flying fox. Just across a grassy area there a…

Pukekura Park, New Plymouth

With 52 hectares of land, there is a lot to do in Pukekura Park! There’s a playground with some interesting equipment; a waterwheel and channel for controlling the water, tunnels through a little hill, a couple of slides, the rope structure for climbing on (as pictured above), mini trampolines, flying fox…

The Coastal Walkway, New Plymouth

This is a 12km walkway along the coast from the port, through central New Plymouth, to Bell Block. It’s all fully paved and open to cyclists, so great for kids on bikes or scooters as well as being buggy friendly. It’s also good for walking dogs on leads. To check out dog…

The Gelato Caffe, Hawera, Taranaki

With over 40 flavours to choose from, there’s an amazing range of gelato in this fairly unassuming cafe. The gelato has deservedly won a number of awards. You can get it in the usual cup or cone and they also make their own waffle cones, as well as waffles, all…

Stoney Oaks Wildlife Park, Inglewood, Taranaki

This farm park is home to an interesting range of farm animals that kids can interact with if they want. You can go into the animal paddocks and pat or brush them. There are also bottles that can be bought for $5 if kids are interested in feeding the animals. The…

Oakura River and Beach, Taranaki

There’s a swimming spot that is popular with those in the know just north of Oakura in the Oakura River. There are toilets nearby, picnic tables and places to park. The river opens out to the beach, which is one of the more kid friendly ones in the Taranaki area,…