Fun for all seasons
Don’t letasummerdownpourdampenyoursunnymood.Thereare plentyof excitingindoor activities to brightenawet day, writesSiobhanDownes.
So your camping trip has ended in a washout, and judging by those chilly temperatures, it’s unlikely you’ll be heading to the beach any time soon. But that doesn’t have to mean your summer holiday is ruined. There’s still plenty of fun to be had on a rainy day. You just need to know where to find it.
From cosy caves to cute cinemas, a chocolate factory to a curling rink, here are some ideas for making the most of a bummer summer.
Check out a quirky museum
I know, I know, there isn’t anything more cliched than visiting amuseum on a rainy day. But let me assure you, these quirky museums will make your eyes glaze from over-stimulation, rather than boredom.
Steampunk HQin amaru is one of my all-time favourites. To call it amuseum doesn’t do it justice – it’s awonderland of upcycled treasures, bizarre gadgets and ghostly figures. There are also plenty of hands-on exhibits, such as the metagalactic pipe organ, where you can pretend to be an alien DJ, or Enter The Portal, a surreal mirrored room with hundreds of glowing lights that gives the sensation of stepping into another dimension.
Keep heading up Waitaki Valley, and you’ll find The Vanished World Centre in Duntroon, which is packed with the fossils of fantastic prehistoric beasts, such as giant penguins and shark-toothed dolphins. There’s even a fossil extraction room, where kids can chip away at 25 million-year-old limestone until they find their own fossil, which they get to take home, along with a junior paleontologist certificate.
If you’re up north, a visit to Claphams National Clock Museum in Whanga¯rei is worth your time (sorry). Now home to more than 2100 clocks and timepieces, the collection was started more than a century ago by Archie Clapham, who had around 400 clocks in his family home.
Cuckoos and alarms, towering grandfathers and tiny timepieces, ornate and simple – there’s every type of clock you could imagine. and the third is draped in romantic fabrics.
If you’re in the Coromandel, head to Mercury Twin Cinemas in Whitianga. It has a good oldfashioned candy bar, and is licensed to serve beer and wine.
Find a good book to lose yourself in
A rainy day is the perfect opportunity to spend hours perusing the shelves of a cosy bookstore.
You’ll have no trouble finding a summer read in Featherston, in Wairarapa. It’s New Zealand’s very own ‘‘booktown’’, boasting what must be the country’s best collection of second-hand and antique book shops. You could spend hours poking There’s nothing more satisfying than heading to a around the enormous second-hand shop, For the lovely cinema on a foul day, enjoying a cheesy film Love Of Books. and delicious snacks guilt-free because the weather Piggery Books in Whanga¯rei is Northland’s is too rubbish to do anything else. largest second-hand book shop, and it has an
Cinema Paradiso in Wa¯naka is a classic, with ¯O interesting backstory – the building was a piggery its comfy old sofas and famous cookies served fresh outhouse at Whanga¯rei Heads, hence the name. from the oven during the intermission. In the South Island, it’s hard to beat Adventure
On the West Coast, Hokitika’s Regent Theatre¯inOBooks amaru. Nestled in the Victorian shows the latest flicks in its art deco building. Precinct, this beautiful shop specialises in books
Fiordland Cinema is even smaller – just 52 seats about travel and exploration, with many rare and – but along with the new releases, you can watch out-of-print titles on its shelves. There are also daily screenings of the locally filmed movie, plenty of artefacts to admire throughout the store, Ata Whenua – Shadowland to see Fiordland’s such as vintage maps, globes, and even a full-size spectacular scenery on the big screen. replica of a 100-year-old lifeboat.
A short drive north of Auckland, Matakana
Cinemas is amust-visit, if only to admire its three beautifully decorated theatres, each with a different theme. One boasts a ceiling covered in roses, one has a spectacular chandelier,
Catch a movie at a boutique cinema Take a tasty tour
Tours aren’t just for tourists, you know. You can pretend you’re on holiday at home by sampling
your town’s local wonders of the foodie kind.
Wellington Chocolate Factory is already a cosy place to be on a gloomy day, but you can really make yourself feel at home by booking one of the tours, which take you through the chocolatemaking process.
You will be welcomed with a deliciously rich hot chocolate, with tastings throughout the tour.
If it’s not icecream weather outside, why not enjoy it inside, on a tour of the Tip Top factory in Mt Wellington, Auckland?
The hour-long tours are a steal at $8 a person, which includes an icecream.
Pic’s Peanut Butter World in Nelson isn’t just a factory, it’s a destination for peanut butter lovers.
Head there for a fun free tour where kids can even have a go at making their own peanut butter.
When summer feels like anything but, sometimes the best thing to do is embrace the cold by checking out some of New Zealand’s top indoor ice venues.
Naseby Indoor Curling Rink is the only indoor facility dedicated to curling in the southern hemisphere, located in the tiny Central Otago gold rush town. Like all the best games, this curious sport (sometimes described as bowls on ice) is easy to learn and difficult to master, but you will have a lot of fun in the process.
At Queenstown Ice Arena and Dunedin Ice Stadium, as well as ice skating, you can have a go in an ice bumper car, which is controlled using two joysticks. Steering on ice is as hard as it sounds, which makes for hilarious results.
Blow off some steam
Use the bad weather as an excuse to take a day off your outdoor activities, and sit back to enjoy a relaxing ride on a vintage train.
The Gisborne City Vintage Railway is a real treat, offering rides on aWa165 steam locomotive that was built in 1897.
Excursions run from Gisborne to Muriwai, a two-hour round trip, with some unique features along the way, such as crossing the main Gisborne Airport runway.
The Marlborough Flyer is another classic, from Picton to Blenheim in a steam locomotive built in
Secret Spot Hot Tubs in Rotorua is the perfect place for a cold day dip. 1915. The hour-long journey takes you up a steep elevation out of Picton, through the Para Wetlands, across the Wairau River into the Wairau Valley, and through Blenheim’s famous vineyards.
Soak in a hot tub
OK, so it’s not exactly indoors, but there’s nothing more inviting than a steaming hot tub on a cool day.
Secret Spot Hot Tubs, in the Waipa¯ Valley near Rotorua, consists of 12 private cedar hot tubs nestled in the trees on the edge of Whakarewarewa Forest. If it’s raining, an umbrella can be set up over your tub.
Hot Tubs Omarama is another beautiful spot for a soak. The staff will make sure your private tub is set at the ideal temperature for the weather, but you can also control it yourself, by adding cool water from a tap or by turning up the heat on the natural wood fire.
Franz Josef Glacier Hot Pools is the perfect place to hunker down during wild West Coast weather. Treat yourself by booking a private pool – there are even little cave shelters to hide away in.
Wellington Chocolate Factory is located down the foodie laneway that is Eva St.