A country drive and a refreshing visit to Clevedon Village is something I did occasionally while I…read morewas living out in South Auckland. Not too far away, and extremely inviting with its markets every Sunday morning, walks through the nature reserve, shops with wooden gems, wool wonders, souvenirs, vineyards, gourmet food tours, museum and Ardmore airfield to keep you entertained, it's a good weekend affair. For the more adventurous, you can hop on a 4WD for a tour instead. It's a safe and friendly place, filled with all things kiwi. I'm looking forward to seeing it expand a bit, because at the moment, it's a bit too small to encourage people to take the drive down there. Still, it has its charms for those with gourmet tastes and nature cravings.

Beautiful water garden that I stumbled across by accident online and correctly knew that I had to…read morevisit in person with the family. The photos do not do it justice- it was so much more beautiful seeing it in real life. Had such a great day just being with nature and soaking up the summer sun with good company. An amazing, huge circular garden with a maze of walking paths on the forest floor, ground, mud, grass leading to different points of interest marked by letters of the alphabet, at different levels and heights. Had a good time admiring the various sculptures within the gardens from life size to small garden ornaments. At Wrights, they specialise in aquatics as well as ground-bound plants- there were several big ponds with waterlilies frequented by thin dragonflies, saw their eel pond but had trouble finding their colony of turtles. They had a cool wooden boardwalk-type over the ponds that we had quite some fun with. Tall, small, colorful and vibrantly bright flowers around everywhere amongst the green bushes, grass, shrubery and trees. Lots of ups, downs, curved pathways into mini forests, next to fields and around the Mauku Waterfall and stream the gardens were built around. A surprise temple and neat wedding venue field as well. A lovely gift shop with a huge range of Chinese porcelain vases, as well as tinkling windchimes, souvenir jewellery and other knick knacks. They also have a cafe that we were unable to visit this time around but noticed their small collection of drinks and snacks if you don't bring your own just before entering the gardens. Stopped by the garden nursery just before we left as well to see the plants thriving in their individual water crates as well as lots of different types of fish for sale. A beautiful spot to visit for anyone of any age- highly recommend it

This was our first visit here. We took a packed lunch and spent a few hours wandering around…read moreexploring the wonderful sights. It is also a great location for a Wedding !

SPLORE SPLORE SPLORE, its taken me this long to complete this review because it taken me this long…read moreto get over the buzz of this festival. In my opinion splore is the best festival NZ has to offer! After attending for my first time in 2012 i couldn't wait for the 2014. Personally i don't go to splore for the music, i go the whole package and the amazing atmosphere. The splore team really have nailed it on the head once again! There were 7 of us who went this year. As to be expected we took WAY to much stuff and didn't use anything. note to self- one change of clothes is adequate, multiple bikinis= essential! more glitter less makeup is my new motto for splore! The key to camping is getting their super early so you can secure a good camp site. Half of our group set off at 6am and got us a fab spot looking over the ocean (pics to follow), we were a good 20 minutes away from the car so again DON'T TAKE TO MUCH STUFF as you do have to carry everything you take. The camping vibe is rad, everyone is so friendly and hangs out together. You can also take a camper-van, get glamping or get a car park next to your tent. All the camping is set at the top of the park, down the hill (which FYI is quite a big/steep hill) you enter into a wonderland of magic. There are so many things to look at from art installations, craft tents, random decorations, the mirror maze this year was amazing and also the large cube mirrors hanging from the large trees. Obviously tons of live music plus live performances= Sam hunt was a personal fav along with double dip on saturday night. Lets also not forget the beautiful beach right there!! the water is so clear and fresh, a great way to wash off. There are also showers at the camp sites, i didn't get there so i can't report on how they were! The whole park is decorated in weird and wonderful ways that only the splore team could pull off. You really do have to see it to believe the craziness!! A personal fav for me was the crazy tvs installed on one of the trees that played wacky videos at night, i lay there watching for at least 2 hours on the saturday night. The creative minds of the splore team do really go well beyond anything you can ever dream of. In terms of drinking and eating.. there are roughly 5 bar areas dotted around the festival, all with the different theme serving great alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages. Personal fav in terms of bars was most likely the old Mout cider LOVE SHACK down by the lagoon. (YES there's a lagoon which is fresh water. The recycled swan sculptures floating in the lagoon were spectacular! ) The living lounge is also very chilled with beans bags and live performances. As for eating there is a food stall village area offering so many amazing healthy options from curry, Mexican vegetarian burritos, vegan ice blocks, Hungarian puffs etc , the list goes on!! Many great coffee trucks for your morning caffeine fix too. There is also a variety of food stalls up the top in the camping areas. Please note splore is also EXTREMELY focused on recycling and leaving no trace. The statistics are amazing and the minimal amount of waste is an admirable achievement especially considering how many people attend. stats below : Compost 442.13kg 70.509% Recycling 131.32kg 20.942% Landfill 53.60 kg 8.547% Splore is known for its outlandish ways and every year there is a different theme for the festival. This year was LOVE, 'more to love at splore' was the catch phrase. On the Saturday night everyone dresses up in the theme, its an amazing site to see so many people in fancy dress,!! This year marked the 10th anniversary of the festival. There has been some talk of making the festival annual but i personally think this would ruin the amazing vibe they have created. As you can see i could and would talk about this festival ALL DAY. So if you are thinking of going and want some insider tips do message me!! Can't wait for 2016 ALREADY, great work team splore xo

This was my first time here and have to say I was very impressed. Good music, good atmosphere and…read morebeen right next to the beach meant a swim when it got too hot. Toilets were well, not a nice experience and the clampdown on alcohol seemed a bit excessive. Lack of food options meant a long wait for food, but in saying that, what was on offer was pretty good. Overall it was great. I had a good time which is all that matters really. Will be going again but this time I'm in a camper van so no long walks to carry camping equipment back and forth.

While staying in the area we stopped in to the cafe for a bite as it sounded lovely and not much…read morein the area to choose from. The staff were very kind and warm to us. We had tea and a mocha latte that were very good and treats of a caramel bar and carrot cake. They were both excellent. We walked the grounds full of lavender and flowers, had a game of giant chess and thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing, charming time.

Art Oasis is a cute little shop squeezed between the florist and bookstore out in Titirangi that…read moreshowcases the works of local artists. These works include anything from wall hangings, to wire scupltures, to prints, to jewellery, so an eclectic mix of local artistic output is what you'll be pleased to find here. They also offer art classes for kids, teenagers and adults, thus making it quite the "creative hub" of Titirangi as what they claim on their website. The lady was very helpful and chatty even though we said we were just having a casual browse; often be a refreshing change from typical sales drive shop assistants you often encounter. If you come here I would definitely recommend taking a look through all of the awesome prints they have on offer, a lot of unique local pieces that are pretty well priced.

This is an art gallery. It is A-ok, it does not stand out amongst the crowd I'm afraid, however it…read moreis what is inside that counts right? Inside this gallery, 2013, 1st March till the 16th March is an exhibition by a local artist called Stephen John Smith. The art is all abstract, which I have a love/hate relationship with. Some of it rocks my boat and some of it just makes me sigh. The gallery, to give it some more cred, also offers art tuition for adults, teenagers and children; plus it is situated in the very lovely Titirangi. It has potential. I will be back. Please note that the opening hours are seasonal and can change during school holidays.

Lopdell House is Titirangi's historic cultural heart and its functions go far beyond an art…read moregallery. I've been here on school trips doing art workshops in the dank basement. I've been to plays in the theatre by the Titirangi Theatre Company. My favourite thing to do here is to ride the elevator; vintage and beautiful with a pull-across iron gate. Even just popping in to the cafe to soak up the atmosphere is worthwhile. Unfortunately none of us will be doing much of anything at Lopdell House for the next little while as Auckland Council treats it to a much-needed makeover including serious structural work and a whole new adjacent building. In the meantime the gallery and theatre are operating out of temporary spaces in New Lynn. We can look forward to this grand old lady that started life as a hotel, reopening rejuvenated and hopefully being around for many years to come.

A great new gallery building next to the lovely Lopdell House. Amazing architecture & veiws along…read morewith cool contemporary art exhibitions. A great reason to head west! Stop on the way to tbe beach.

We came here as a joke for my friend's 18th birthday party, and surprisingly, we had a really good…read moretime. My aunty comes here regularly and I think the place is more aimed at her age group, or people who stay out west on their night's out and don't head into the city. It's a nice bar, there's pool tables and tall tables with stools as seats. The bar is a little small, but it's long so you don't feel cramped. The crowd can get a bit rowdy, and because there's the supermarket car park right outside, there have been a few fights. But when I went there, the people were lovely and friendly and the staff were great too. Not too expensive, either.

Amazing Sunday lunch here .... we came for a late lunch about 130. And there is no more outdoor…read moreseat so we decided to wait till we are seat with an outdoor table as the weather is too good to be indoor! Okay, view is amazing, food is so good and wine is awesome... what more do I want? An easy 5 star for me!

Superb Service, awesome hospitality, beautiful views, and a delicious lunch!…read more Day two in our New Zealand adventure, care of Villa Maria, we finally got a chance to meet some of folks who work for the company that made our trip possible. We were toured around the winery and shown where the wine is taken in, where its bottled, filtered, labeled and then packed away. They produce 200,000 bottles of wine a day! We were also shown the locations of their different vineyards throughout New Zealand and the unique qualities of each vineyard. These qualities affect the flavor profile of the grapes used for wine. Did I mention they have certified organic wines too? How impressive,I say! After the tour, we had lunch at the cafe. We got the best seat of the house; outside and in front of the wonderful green winery view. Oh my, how delicious everything was!! I had the Fish of the day which was Halibut and mashed potatoes in a lemony butter sauce while my sister opted for the Duck confit. For dessert, we had the rhubarb cheescake which had an appealing presentation and raspberry sherbet namalaka. We devoured all of our food and probably didn't need to eat for another day or so. I ate more than I usually do and I have no regrets. It was all that good! Bottom line, our trip here was wonderful! Need I say more?