If your time off work this Christmas is limited, you’ve lucked out on getting a camping spot, or Airbnb-ing is not within your budget, you can still experience the benefits of a summer holiday at home. We’ve created a list of one-day trips for a staycation in the Bay of Plenty.
Your one splurge
“Unique to the world” and moored on Lake Rotoiti is a caravan-boat hybrid built by Matt Horder which is available for leisure cruises.
Dubbed “The Airstream Project”, the 9.2m pontoon vessel, which runs on electric power, was launched last month after Horder and a friend spent three years designing and building it.
Inspired by 1960s-era Airstream trailers, World War II aircraft and Italian speedboats, Horder, who owns Pure Cruise New Zealand, has been operating charter cruises on Lake Rotoiti for 15 years.
The newest addition to his fleet has a polished aluminium exterior and a “few thousand” solid rivets joining the framing and panels. The boat’s windows slide up into the roof, and its sides fold out and feature couches that pivot out over the water so punters can get close to the bush-clad shoreline.
Horder offers private charters and shared trips to Rotoiti Hot Pools. Visit: purecruise.co.nz. Cost: Water shuttles to the hot pools are $75 for adults and $45 for children. A private charter for up to eight guests costs $1200 for three hours.
The best place to cool off
It’s a quintessential Kiwi thing - dive-bombing into water and making the loudest splash possible.
When the mercury rises, grab the kids and head to Mount Muanganui’s Salisbury Wharf at Pilot Bay or Port Ohope Wharf - just two spots to pop a good bomb, or “manu”.
If you want tips about technique, check out today’s Tauranga Moana Bomp Comp at the Tauranga Waterfront from 11am-2.30pm. Visit mytauranga.co.nz. Cost: Free.
An escape that feels a million miles away (but isn’t)
If you want a change from water-based activities, take a drive to the shaded Whirinaki Te Pua-a-Tāne Conservation Park.
Located on River Road in Minginui, it’s one of the country’s biodiversity hotspots and features 155km of walking, tramping and mountain biking tracks for people of all skill levels.
Great conservation efforts have ensured ample wildlife, including “wandering horses”, and the Department of Conservation urges careful driving while crossing the “border into another world”. Visit: doc.govt.nz/whirinaki and bayofplentynz.com/places/whirinaki-forest. Cost: Free.
Your choice of the Black Caps, beats or backflips
From Black Caps matches at Bay Oval to music festivals, the Little Big Markets, Classic Flyers Aero Day, the Katikati Avocado Food and Wine Festival and the travelling Ashton Family Circus, there are loads of local summertime events to check out. Visit: eventfinda.co.nz and bayofplentynz.com for a full list. Cost: Varies, but some events are free.
Your holiday adrenaline fix
Velocity Valley recently launched Vertigo, where the bravest in the family can leap off a ledge and drop 43m into a net hanging over a river.
A first in New Zealand, the Rotorua activity sees you hanging in a specially designed harness before being dropped bottom-first into the safety net. Visit: velocityvalley.co.nz. Cost: $150 per person (minimum age 10).
Your family activity
Children can meet Shaun the Sheep and his sheepdog pal Bitzer at Rotorua’s Agrodome every day during the school holidays.
You can also see screenings of Shaun the Sheep television episodes three times daily and experience a new interactive Hide and Sheep Trail augmented reality app and a 4m-high Shaun the Sheep figure, as well as a playground and Farmyard Cafe.
Visit: agrodome.co.nz. Cost: Adults $49 and $25 for children aged between 3-15. Infant to age 2, free. This includes the farm show and tour.
A new sport to try
Disc golf is a sport that is exploding in popularity around the globe and is available at Tauranga’s McLaren Falls Park.
It involves walking around fairways to complete nine or 18-hole courses, but instead of golf clubs, players fling a plastic disc, similar to a frisbee. The McLaren Falls course is regarded as one of the best in the country, but also one of the most challenging.
A full game takes about 50-90 minutes. Visit The Falls Cafe at the park if you need to hire discs, or take your own. Visit: Tauranga Disc Golf on Facebook. Cost: Free.
Your holiday lunchtime fix
Grab award-winning pies from Patrick’s Bakery on Rotorua’s Old Taupō Road and head to the end of Bennetts Road to enjoy a lakeside picnic.
Or, opt for the Rotorua Lakefront playground, and finish with a stroll to Lady Jane’s Ice Cream Parlour.
For the adults, we recommend one of Mount Maunganui’s newest restaurants, Sailor Galley & Rum Bar, or Tay Street Beach Kitchen, which was recently taken over by Pāpāmoa’s Pearl Kitchen and has a new menu - plus, it’s open on Friday nights. Visit: sailormount.nz or taystreetkitchen.co.nz. Cost: Varies.
Your rainy-day activity
A new shopping centre called The Village has opened in Ōmokoroa in Tauranga, with 21 retail tenancies spread across four main buildings on a 1.6ha site. Go for a browse and stop in for dumplings and craft beer at the nearby The Rising Tide. Visit: risingtidemt.com. Cost: Varies.
Your favourite (revamped) place to explore
Take a hike on the new Pāpāmoa Hills path, complete with a new carpark, or head to Te Rere o Ōmanawa/ Ōmanawa Falls, which has re-opened after an upgrade. We also rate the historic village for a wander and recommend a sugar stop at The Whipped Baker for decadent doughnuts.
Or, for something different, book in for a guided walk with Whakatāne’s Ōmataroa Eco Tours, or Tauranga’s Ngapeke Permaculture, which until 2019 was a 42-acre monoculture crop farm. What is now a “nature-inspired environmental haven” gives back to the community through eco-friendly projects. Visit: nzecotours.co.nz, ngapekepermaculture.co.nz and tauranga.govt.nz. Cost: The top three walks are free.
Carly Gibbs is a weekend magazine writer for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post and has been a journalist for two decades. She is a former news and feature writer, for which she’s been both an award finalist and winner.