First a note - we Ubered to Bondi and went out on the south side of the beach building sand castles, dipping our toes in the waves (there was a no swim order out bc of big waves - so you could only swim on the very north side between the large yellow flags). This is a personal opinion but Bondi was the best beach, it was 3 times the size of the next largest. Accross the street are tons of restaurants (but be prepared they serve the same thing - chicken schnitzel, burgers and maybe “tacos” and “nachos”) and a pharmacy/shops - there is tons of space on the beach - which usually is crammed later in the day. You had to leave the beach for these places but there was a lot of options.

If you want to take a dip the Iceberg Swimming Club is right next door and feeds from the ocean. My kids found it way too cold (even the warmer back pool) and the locker room does have a shower but it’s rustic. This is so cute but don’t plan on swimming the day away! 20 minutes max for my delicate kids! It’s also $ but under $10 for a pass and towel for kids.

Kid outside the Iceberg Pool

My overall review is that with kids starting at Bondi and playing around for a couple of hours and a short walk would tick all the boxes for most kids. Going the whole way might take some perseverance and a lot of patience. I have outlined the best places I would aim for if I were families of different ages.

You start the walk outside of the Iceberg Swimming Pool Club and after finding the right ridge line (it’s down the stairs to the left) - you circle around to gorgeous cut out rocks that kids can play in while you walk down. There are multiple sets of stairs, which a very notable steep stairs incline 1km into the walk that is very difficult for some people. Not stroller friendly. At all. The rest of the staircases are normally sloped and much more kid friendly.

The next little beach was closed (so was most of Bondi the day we were there) and it was very windy. There are very beautiful cut outs along the way of the ocean however if \240kids like climbing on the rocks more.

Tamarama- super cute! There was a little shop that sells drinks/snacks, also there were young adults surfing (~20) and it had bathrooms -along with the sandy beach and grassy area. Very covered from the wind. \240This would be a very good place to end of with little kids. Has a little playground also.

Tamarama Beach

Bronte beach - a very developed with a real structured building and a free 25 m ocean fed pool. The building has bathrooms. This is where I would swim (it’s free) if you had a bit older kids that made it this far. The pool is really deep and I would say the pool was all 12+ maybe one mom with an 8 year old taking a quick dip. There is no cafe at this beach which is a bummer because it does have a building. Other guides said you could have lunch here but they mean walking all the way off the beach into town to some cafes. I think that might be a good plan if catching an Uber back skipping the Bondi traffic after going to a cute cafe.

Bronte Pool

Next is the cemetery and it takes a long time to get around it. My kids didn’t go but I would say that was fine, but not the memorable part of the walk.

Clovelly beach - this is fine for adults, there’s an area that isn’t sand but like a concrete dock that is not appropriate for young kids since it’s right into the bay and the beach is very small. \240Another free lap pool, this one is very long and narrow, and no kids were in it, just people swimming laps.. Not ideal for kids and I would say the only bright spot is it has a restaurant has a kids menu! *my kids weren’t with me but I took this from google*

Gordon’s bay - it is known for its underwater sea trail, but not really kid friendly. It’s just a bay on the trail to Coogee.

Coogee Beach-there is a place to eat, and pools, the beach is smaller than Bondi but had maybe has less people. There is a place to eat right on the water and I must have missed the ocean pool, but it has supposedly 3 in various forms. Overall it’s fine but I would spend time at Bondi being a tourist with kids!

Overall it was a really good spot and I would recommend it. I tried to draw a picture, the purple is the area I recommend. One of us arrived at about 7:10 AM and it was as already pretty full if wondering about timing. At about 8:15 a pilot ship came and we started the sounds around 8:40. I would say by about 9:45 we had gone all the way into the sound, turned around and were coming out when we packed up and left - but we were not out of the sound yet.

It was breathtaking, but there were no animal spotting (the kids would have loved) but as we entered there was a cool rainbow

After the rainbow the kids were DONE. Maybe 15 minutes in. And the activities became very important. We saw families with marker sets, and allowing kids to get food as they pleased - just ideas. We brought watercolor water sheets, along with an activity book and a card game - and between getting food and these things the kids lasted maybe an hour.

We were also “ducked” aka given ducks and my kids spent some time trying to re-hide the ducks in plain sight before deciding to keep them. This might also be a good activity to do during this time! Thank you to whoever gave us these!

Outside there was a drink cart for those who were outside the whole time. I will say my partner got bit by something and the sun is very intense. I applied sun screen to kids and me in the AM but would recommend a hat and rain jacket for kids. It was maybe 60s but the sun was so intense once it came out. Sunscreen and bug repellent is a must if watching outdoors. There was some commentary throughout but it was very much a gorgeous sail throughout the whole Sound. It was a lot smaller than it looks on maps, but you move very slowly through it.

You can easily move from one side to another to get a shot especially after the first half of the sound.

Taken a little over half way through Milford Sound

If you have issues with crowds by the half way point (the ship does a 180 and then you sail out of the Sound the same way you went in) the crowd thins and you can get pictures much easier. But over all amazing! 10/10 recommend kids rated it a 3/10 and both would rather be in kids camp.

Last note: THE BUGS - they bite, don’t put down your infinite veranda DOWN!!!! And wear bug spray even when in the solarium! The people next to us lowered their veranda in Doubtful which may have been the worst sound for bugs bc they reported bugs in their room even that night. My kids go bugs bites just from being around deck, they were really outside and we saw some in Eden. My partner also got a couple, but he had been outside taking pictures for parts. The bugs respond to DEET- bites were on arms and any skin showing (think ankles from pant legs).

It’s hard to be kid friendly so bring devices if you take a tour so you can enjoy it. Then tuck them into afternoon childcare at 2 and go out to port chalmer - we got this map at the port

We decided to use the two walking trails so I colored them here also for clarity when I talk about them!

We first looked for somewhere for a drink but the town is quite small and there wasn’t a lot going on on the main strip. We decided to walk the southern purple line around the point \240and then did the northern loop (pink)

The Southern Loop

This started with a side walk but quickly was half paved half gravel very beautiful and lots of nature. A pretty narrow road really, but beyond the initial hill it was very easy. Occasional car but overall very scenic with mostly just a couple of walkers. It ended up being about 3 miles \240but we also made a wrong turn so that’s an estimate. Great plants and views!

This is a massive tree on the walk - so much greenery!

Then after we made it back we did a quick flip to the other walking trail and it was very different but also very nice.

The North Loop

Much more in town, a bit more on a hillside - there was a resturant Carey’s Bay Hotel that is open 11am-3pm and 5pm-whenever which for this example was already closed by the time we went. Don’t be us - do this loop first!!

Carey’s Bay Hotel

They have a take away menu on their website which includes drinks and outdoor seating! Also we stopped at the bathrooms on this loop and they are super nice - indoor pumping, nice hand dryers- these are just outside the north shipping yard

Aren’t they cute??

This loop is very busy but the busy roads all have tiny sidewalks, and there is a big hill involved. You get a little bit more of a tour of town. It’s probably ~1.5 miles but it’s a little more work.

Things we didn’t do but heard about:

Otago Mueseum - if you have a down cast day - everyone said this museum is great for kids of all ages (all indoors)

First a review of the park. It was PACKED. It is summer holiday there but even still, it was a ton of people.

Main layout of the main park

The park was big with even a skate park, food, and bathrooms. But it was really aimed at those mostly 6 and under. No monkeybars - one rope climbing contraption and another tall slide but nothing was pieced together for organic play by bigger kids. By our “major” parks US standards it felt lacking but we have kids (8&10) and this is a great playground and had a lot of components that are super fun still.

This park had:

Zip lines

A climbable tower with a huge slide, little slides around it

Little bouncing trampolines

A skate/scooter trail/park

Swings

A climbing stucture

Lots of little elements one off

Splash pad

Water play with cool engineering pipes/waterways

This slide. It’s fun but wouldn’t cut it in the US by safety standards. It’s German go figure.

This slide. It’s a lot higher in person. And please take care, we saw a girl jam her leg in the side - and she was fine but I wouldn’t say this is a slide for small kids, and parents with kids on their laps need to watch for the drag. It’s a fast slide.

The bathrooms were a bit odd, they had different lights for what people were doing in the rooms….

Some of the refreshments they had there

The skate/scooter course - this was so cute! My kids would have loved it if they had a scooter!

We also walked along the River and saw the Punters and stopped to look at the small gardens and plaques along the way.

The boardwalk next to the river

The whole inner city loop is very clear marked and has these sign posts up all over - the Cathedral Square is also visible from several points so it’s very manageable to make plans on the fly.

We ended our walk finding an absolutely delightful book store for kids - it was amazing in titles and it’s right near everything else! We stopped in and picked out titles, our kids read while we had a drink at the restaurants right next the Bridge of Remembrance before taking the awaiting bus back.

So many cute titles and it is thoughtful organized!

Two kids reading and that’s a popsicle in my cute cocktail!

The beach: it’s rocks. Really cool rocks that are so flat bc they are rubbed by the sea. If this is your families jam (it’s ours) then you will have a great time but you can’t swim in the water. I don’t recommend sandals \240for tiny feet, no crocs either.

We love the beach

We also were advised you can’t take the rocks on ship

The ocean spa is just up (north) the road (you pass by it on the bus from the boat) and if you want a pool it looks perfect. We saw kids playing at it when we passed.

The Mini Golf: be prepared there is a 2-putt course *right* where you are dropped off. It’s $40NZ/fam of four, and there are two 18 hole courses. Did we do it? Yes. Did it take up so much time to the adults regret it? Also Yes. Kids loved it. Took about 45 minutes.

Golf course on the left, drop-off spot on the right of the photo

The downtown is nice, several tourist stores, along with old cars and 1930 art deco. Kids weren’t enthralled, but there were several places to have a drink/snack had we planned it better. Go to town first and have a drink/snack before maybe doing the beach last (there access right next to the I isite drop off point and a cute little garden to the south. A playground is supposedly 10 minutes further south but we turned around at the Hugh skate park just before.)

The one gang way was killer and just know before you go to plan patience- and plan bathroom stops before the bus!

We booked a tour through Zelandier tours to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves - it was a two tour hour drive there and back and raining throughout but the caves were lovely. Just plan for devices for the rides places. My partner also got motion sick from the drive - it’s very hilly so be prepared.

Also please talk with your children about honoring cultural asks - several adults in our group were caught after being explicitly told no pictures in the caves. It’s disappointing to see adults disrespecting cultures, but a great lesson for our kids to learn now. Both kids loved it.

Taken from the internet - bc no cameras are allowed but this is a good place holder

Our driver said the roads can be chaotic one day and easy the next. It rained off and on the whole day we were there, but the day before there were car accidents and road closures all around the port on a clear day. Just plan plenty of time if going off boat without doing a ship excursion. He said the day before they got back “with a minute to spare” 😳

Had this been a nicer day I think more people would have been less stressed, they have had record rain fall in the region (not good) so just a PSA to make a back-up plan while here.

We didn’t have anything planned but IF we wanted to do something there are 1 million shore excursion options right where you’re dropped off. A helicopter tour to anything you can imagine.

Helicopter prices

Here are just some examples - but if you go in early there are lots of options.

We walked about town (Paihia) and down the the far beach (we haven’t met a beach we don’t love) - it was gorgeous and you can’t go wrong. There are sidewalks and places to cross. The town has a beach town vibe and there are plenty of souvenir shops to look at.

I really wanted my family to walk the 25 minutes back to ship (which includes a cute covered playground and beach with restaurants across from it - so great either way you travel from Waitangi to Paihia) but we were set on going to the Waitangi Treaty grounds.

If you fill this out you get candy at the end

The treaty grounds were about a 5-10 minute walk but we got a bus ride there from town just tell your bus driver. There are also lime green vans that go from town.

We did not do the walking tour - it looked fun we saw some kids in some groups. Both the walking tour and cultural performance are included in the cost ($60 NZ w/kids free) But one of our kids would have had a really tough time so we opted to do the cultural performance only.

While the museum strived to represent both sides of the treaty process, we did have to interject that the British didn’t keep a majority of the treaty. That maybe up the you as a parent, but we felt many exhibits hinted at it and then then let it be instead of rounding out the history explicitly like kids need.

That was a really user friendly experience and exposure to Māori customs.

*they will remind kids, but laughing at the pukah is disrespectful. That said, my kids were so scared. I did not prepare my kids for a warrior intimidation dance. I should have shown examples before had. Mine were plenty intimidated 😂it was fast moving and covered little snippets of different dances and weapons.

Performers - 10/10 accessible with explanations to everything

They provided space on the far left side for kids in the performance house - so once you enter if your kids can’t see don’t worry. Afterward you can take a picture with the performers.

The views of the bay are also really great here.

There is a restaurant/cafe near the canoe/waka house that has a kids menu with chicken nuggets and a burger - with several outdoor tables with umbrellas.