It is very handy having a shop nearby that sells all the school uniforms for the area. Very…read morefriendly staff - you can just walk in, locate the school you want and request the size of the item you need and you're done. Not too much trouble at all. And they also have a good selection of accessories too. Plus, a sweetener for the expense of uniforms is their loyalty card. I was very pleased to be able to cash in my $20 voucher with my recent uniform purchase.

I had extremely terrible experience when I visited the school 553 uniform center at remuera…read more The staffs were so rude to my family. The young lady looked like angry and so tired. The middle age's Chines staff spoke slang to me in front of my child. I can find the lack of size, expensive price and low quality. There is only 1 place I can buy school uniform. it is the main reason. So they know whatever they can doto the parents especially with children. The school should give chance to parents to find another place to buy uniform.

Even though the Stardome is now named after a benefactor (can't be helped I guess), it is still as…read morecool as it ever was. The staff don't mind if you just wander in and have a look around and the foyer alone has enough to amuse the kiddies for at least half an hour, probably longer. During the school holidays they run all kinds of fun stuff and if you haven't been before, it's unlike anything else you can do around the town. You absolutely have to be organised and book in advance and maybe the movie is a bit dated, but it's fascinating and presented in a way that makes astronomy accessible to everyone - even 3 year olds. There's an arty crafty session where the kids get to make their own (artistically questionable) souvenir but the highlight is that the film is shown Cinema 180 style on the ceiling. A bit hard on the neck but SO worth it. You can hire the Stardome for functions but when I looked into booking it for an event, I ran in to the problem of how to keep kids from playing unsupervised in the lobby so that's something to consider. I'm ashamed to say I have never been here in the evening and actually looked through that giant telescope at the night sky. I intend to do it every Winter but late nights out in Winter just don't seem to happen. This is the year.

We were thinking about what show we should pick and have chosen "The winter sky". It was just…read moreamazing, to see what stats and planets we can see with our naked eye from Auckland. At least in good weather. After the show we went outside to see the Saturn through telescopes. Not the Zeiss one, but smaller. I saw the Saturn through the telescope for the first time and it was the biggest happy moment I have had in years! You can actually see the planet and the rings! Super cool! We haven't had a chance to use the Zeiss telescope because of the weather, but we are definitely going to do this next time.

I really love the flow of the Northcote Community Crèche, the outdoor play area flows almost…read morecompletely around the crèche, allowing the children to spend lots of time playing in the sand pit, riding a scooter or pushing a cart. The staff are also wonderfully calm and helpful, and always attentive with the children. My first visit here was to have a look around and see what I thought about enrolling my child. Didn't take me long to realize, that the kids were happy, and there was so much to learn from and play with. A routine session, gave your child- indoor and outdoor play time, a sit down group meal, group book reading, and sing along/dance time. Organised and cheerful, this community crèche is a favourite of mine.

Very solid school in all areas. The teachers and staff were dedicated, focussed, and committed…read morebeyond the usual school requirement. Most staff gave up personal time to be involved in school events. It was a very positive experience being part of the community and easy to be involved supporting the school. We would highly recommend it to anyone considering this school. There are almost no schools in the area to match it. If only they ran an Intermediate school to follow on with life would be perfect...!

This is such a cool store, one of the go to options for when I have to buy gifts because everything…read morethere is unique. Even though it is New Zealand designed and made, there is not too much kiwiana, that makes for good gifts for tourists or people you know who are overseas but much of the store is just products created by amazingly talented people of whom Texan Art Schools bring collectively into their store. You'll find textiles, glass, ceramics, jewelry and prints here as well as what I think must be feijoa candles because the store smells of feijoas. A while back I purchased some amazing glass vases and a dish for myself and had wanted to go back and get another colour of one of the vases. It was gone. So lesson here is that you need to just buy it at the time. Stock is often limited.

The Manurewa Aquatic Centre has been around for several years now and was a much-needed upgrade for…read morethe area. It's located at Mountfort Park and it's hard to miss off the main road. It's a great facility and, living a two minute walk from here, I know that this place is popular all-year round. The aquatic centre boasts five pools, one of them being Manukau's first deep water pool, perfect for water polo and all other deep water sports I'd never dare to try (I'm definitely not a swimmer). Entry to the pools are free, but there's a great range of paid extras you can go for like the spa and sauna. The pools close relatively early but for a small fee you can stay later, which is ideal if you like swimming in peace, because this place gets busy. I've only visited the aquatic centre a handful of times, despite living so close. I prefer the pools in the winter when it's not so packed. You get some serious swimmers here so beware of accidently floating into someone's lane! I learnt that one the hard way. I've taken some younger cousins here on a couple of afternoon and I didn't swim, but the spectator seats here are great and you get a view of all the pools so there's no blind spot to worry about. There's a cafe on-site aswell if the hunger strikes, but I usually bring my own food when I come here or practice patience until I'm home. I really like the changing room facilities here; they're modern, spacious and well-looked after considering how much foot traffic comes through. The Manurewa Aquatic Centre is great for families with their range of swimming pools, and give adults the extra option of chilling out in the spa and sauna for some alone time. The Community Gyms fitness centre is here aswell, so the aquatic is great for that post-workout swim or sauna! A great addition to the Manurewa community and its as popular as ever.

My dad went here, I went here and while my kids aren't attending plenty of my nieces and nephews…read moreare carrying on the tradition. This is a friendly country school, very much in vogue as the suburb it resides in has elevated position out West. There is a sculpture of an apple tree with students standing under it on the school grounds which encapsulates the history of this, a school which served its community members many who were orchardists. Many other sculptures and artworks are proudly displayed around the school, such as a mural of an apple tree on a school building as you drive into the school. The teachers are reportedly still wonderful and caring about their students. A keen PTA seems to always be on board. Two main social events on the calendar include a country fair in March and the Stark Brown Picnic in November, both events to celebrate the community spirit through a great little school.

At first glance, I was a bit perplexed by The Mind Lab. Is it...a school? A café? A computer lab?…read more ...and then one day I got a whiff of some fine beans and was drawn in - what I found: ML is kiiiind of all three. Per their site: "The Mind Lab by Unitec is an inter-disciplinary lab designed to contexualise education in a 21st century setting." So basically, the idea is to provide a unique educational environment wherein children can discover his/her true passions. They also offer postgraduate programmes (mainly focused for teachers) to enhance these disciplines and practices. Cool, eh? And now, back to the café bit ;) Naturally, the parents /caregivers of said promising youth require a space to relax and enjoy some fine beverages...enter: ML's bright little café (which I recently found out is a branch of Coffee General). WIN for a nearby office worker such as myself who can now, too enjoy the positive vibes of the space. They have a variety of beans to choose from including Kokako, Rocket, Merito, Three Beans, etc - and they make them strong, the way I like it. The coffee is accompanied by a small piece of dark chocolate, just the perfecttt combination. If you'd like to stay a while, they also offer free wifi. Nice.

Drove by this place many time and finally got a chance to go in…read more There is a cafe at the entrance. Serves Underground coffee. The flat white I got was ok... not as smooth as some other places. Maybe its the beans they use that day, was on the sour side. Has an interesting decor. Lots of refurbished furniture up the front. A good place for a quick drink and brief meet up. Down the back they hold science/design classes for kids 4+. Looks really cool. For sure will bring my son here once he is old enough.