Yup, they are the last shop stop before Piha so if you are heading out to the West Coast beaches…read moreand have a necessary dairy article to purchase you had better stop into the Oratia Superette. They have always had, and still do have, the best ice cream cones in town with a rainbow of flavours, as well as all of the freezer packaged ice creams and ice blocks. All of the essentials are here, bread, milk, grocery items and a section where you can purchase your stamps. I love the community notice board at the shop entrance, always brimming with interesting notices.

Anyone who knows anything knows this is the last shop before Piha (not counting the actual shops in…read morePiha). So if you're on your way out for a big day at the beach, this is a common place to stop and stack up on snacks, drinks, magazines and the like; everything you need for a lazy day in the sun shine. Like any truly good dairy they sell ice cream on the cone, not just premade ice creams in the fridges. Heaps of flavours, get a double or a triple, just make sure you don't spill it in the car down those windy Piha roads. It's also a great place to stop on your way home from Piha to grab milk or bread or whatever is you may need.

Just another dairy right? Wrong! This is a good dairy, dare I say great? For those of you…read moreout-of-towners a 'dairy' isn't just a place you go to get your milk, in fact it would be rare to even find a cow mooing about, a dairy is a term for the local convenience store. And there sure is a lot around Auckland. How they all do so well puzzles me as they - along with Rays Dairy - do charge hefty prices for the everyday basics. Rays Dairy even has a peak hour, 'the after school crowd', probably the same people that will become 'the after work drinks' crowd. Ice cream seem to do it for them now though. Rays Dairy have a good deal on ice cream in a cone, $1.50 or $2.50 is pretty darn good eh?! Told you, not just another dairy...

lovely staff, always someone at the counter and very helpful. Food is always good, i especially…read morelove the fact they stock MTN dew code red. In conclution The best Superette in Auckland.

These guys have to be one of the greatest superettes around. Family run business and happy to serve…read moreyou, whether it is the kids with a couple of dollars to spend on pick 'n mix lollie bags or ice blocks after school, to me picking up those essential grocery items I forgot to include on my weekly shop. They've got Lotto, a great range of fresh flowers like big long stemmed sunflowers which make a nice gift if you are popping over to a friend's house for coffee or dinner.

The giant coke can on the outside of Croydon Dairy is a good example of what to expect from this…read moresuperette. Classic items, reasonable prices and fairly good service. They don't break the mold of convenience stores, with an underwhelming selection of drinks and magazines, but they will have what you need if you are in a pinch and cant be bothered going to the supermarket. Croydon Dairy also sells lotto tickets and instant kiwi if you are in the mood for a quick gamble. It's also quite fun to stand outside and watch the looks of bewilderment on drivers new to the area, as the roadway outside has a fairly odd set of traffic rules.

This is a great dairy because it is open really late. Well, later than any other dairy in the…read morepeninsula. This store is small but it is packed with goodies. So many goodies. One whole wall is just a row of drink fridges, and they somehow manage to pack several aisles into the little store. Now, it does mean that you feel quite cramped in there, but hey, it's a dairy, get over it. They always have two people working and there's two payment machines and two registers. You normally always have to ask for a bag, which is annoying, but hopefully they are doing their bit to save the planet and aren't just being lazy or cheap. They've got heaps of different brands for all of their products. If you need something they will probably have it.

This is a sweet dairy because it's on the way to Te Atatu when you're coming from Glendene, so it's…read moresuper handy to pop in and grab some milk or whatever on your way through. It's a massive dairy too, heaps of stuff and a really good selection. It well spaced out and clean, which is important. The staff here are what makes it great. They are really the most helpful dairy owners in the whole world. Like if you get to the counter and you realise you've forgotten something, they'll go and get it for you, even though you could just go and get it yourself and it will take them much longer to go all the way around the counter and walk down the aisle to get the thing you need. That's helpful. And they are really nice too.

My regular dairy, they've always got exactly what you want and they are the friendliest shop owners…read morein the world. Always ask you how your day is, if you need help carrying the eggs, and feel really bad when the good kind of bread has sold out. You can buy single eggs too which is really handy. It's a massive dairy so you'll have to have a look around if you don't know you're way around, and there's usually boxes of product around the place too because they are always restocking. Not much parking out the front if you come at a busy period, and there are always kids hanging about too. But heaps of products and all the necessities, as well as Lotto.