A Shopper’s Guide to New Zealand, by Rosanna

I’m sure that, if any of you blog-readers visit New Zealand, a shopping guide will come in handy, especially if you have a teenage girl in tow…

One of the first shops that I went in was a souvenir shop in Whangarei, next to the café where we ate ice-creams on our journey to the Bay of Islands. It was a good souvenir shop, quite cheap and free of the tat found in some other souvenir shops. Daddy bought me a lovely pair of paua earrings, but persuaded me out of buying some little dolphin shaped drawers, “because you will find things like that everywhere”. Well, we did see the same drawers in another shop, but they were far more expensive!

In the Bay of Islands we stayed in Paihia. We did stroll along the shops in the town but there wasn’t a great selection, although there was a nice bakery where we bought some delicious bread. We also bought some postcards and stamps in a small bookshop but we weren’t tempted to venture into any further shops.

Whilst we were staying in the Bay of Islands, we travelled to Kerikeri, where we found a better assortment of shops. There was a good shoe shop where Conrad purchased some ‘Vans’ and we wandered round a few other shops. We had a leaflet about arts and crafts in Kerikeri, so we decided to visit a couple of the places mentioned. One that I would highly recommend would be Artifishell – a great little shop with a variety of crafts. The products seemed to be well priced so we bought a bird figure for our garden. Another place that we visited from the leaflet was a small chocolate factory. We could see the workers making some confectionery, and although the shop was rather overpriced, we did get some yummy free samples!

On the way back from the Bay of Islands, we travelled across to the west coast so that we could see the kauri trees, and we also visited the Kauri Museum. The museum shop was varied; there were some really nice things, some tacky things, some cheap things and some expensive things. Louis bought a rucksack for his teddy and Conrad bought a mini rugby ball. The museum itself was very interesting.

Further on in the journey, we stopped at a beach and bought some fish and chips. Although the shop didn’t look very appealing, the fish and chips were extremely good, and the beach provided a lovely backdrop.

When we were back in Auckland, Mummy took us to the Westfield Downtown Shopping Centre. In the Great New Zealand Shop there are some cool souvenirs, but it is rather expensive, although I did splash out on a $2 pen! Also in the shopping centre is The Warehouse, ‘where everyone gets a bargain’. It is similar to Wilkinson’s but with a bigger range and not quite so cheap. On our first visit I got some trainers for PE, and since then I have also acquired a sun hat and a Red Hot Chilli Peppers CD.

On our way back from the shopping centre that day, we went to explore Victoria Park Market, a permanent market by Victoria Park open ever day of the year except for Christmas day! There are some great bargains to be found, amongst the overpriced things. Mummy bought me a sarong and I bought I bracelet.

Another outing that Mummy took us on was to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The shop was fairly expensive but it had some groovy things in it and I bought three New Zealand plant fairies. The museum was varied and very interesting. After exploring the museum we walked into Parnell itself, but, to my disappointment, we didn’t go in many shops because the boys were too tired. We did go into a shop that Daddy had recommended: the Elephant House. It was full of wonderful crafty products and I bought a lovely handmade angel.

On the day before I started school we went to the Sky Tower, which was a fascinating experience, and so all the children bought posters from the gift shop, which were not very expensive, for such a popular tourist destination.

One weekend, we caught the ferry to Devonport and when we arrived at the ferry terminal, there was a sort of farmers’ market going on. We bought some olives, cookies and some sweetie kebabs for our picnic! We walked past the shops of Devonport, but to my annoyance, we didn’t go in any, so I can’t comment on them.

We took the opportunity of a long weekend to visit Rotorua and we visited Wai-o-tapu Thermal Wonderland, where Daddy bought me a New Zealand t-shirt in the gift shop. The thermal pools and geysers were fascinating.

Next, we travelled to Whakatane, where we did quite a bit of shopping. I bought a Converse bag for a reasonable price and Mummy bought a pretty skirt in the ‘Mr Thankyou’ shop. The high street was full of life when we were shopping, but when we came back at 7pm to find dinner, it was like a ghost town; there wasn’t a soul to be seen! We walked the length of the main road and finally found a fish and chip shop that was open, but even that closed at 8pm!

As we travelled back to Auckland, we stopped at Mount Maunganui and at the base of the hill was a great ice cream shop. I had hokey-pokey flavour, but there were many more, and they had homemade waffle cones!

On a day off, I went shopping in Auckland CBD with Mummy. In Whitcoulls (like WH Smiths but a lot better) I bought three flower fairies books for only $3 each in the bargain books section. In Pat Menzies Shoes I bought a pair of Converse All Stars. It was quite an expensive shoe shop, but they had a good sale on. Then we had a muffin in Muffin Break, which was very tasty! On the way back home, we popped into Victoria Park Market again and I got a beautiful tiara in a great little jewellery shop.

We have also been to Titirangi, but I wouldn’t recommend going there to shop because, although it is a very nice village, there isn’t much except a small dairy where we got cheap ice creams.

We are living near ‘fashionable Ponsonby’ and Mummy took me and the boys shopping there and I bought some stickers – 5 for $2! – in a dairy and a plaque with an R on it in the fairy shop! Also, Mummy has bought me some Birkenstock sandals from the Future Feet shoe shop.

With my friends I have been shopping in the city centre and I have bought a Dickies T-shirt from Smith + Caughey’s which is a rather posh and expensive department store (the t-shirt was in the sale!) I have also bought a Paul Frank purse from the Aotea Square market, which is on every Friday and Saturday. I have bought a book of New Zealand landscapes form Borders, which is a bookshop with a disappointing selection, but good offers.

I hope that if you ever come to New Zealand you will find my guide helpful, but be warned, if you do have a teenage girl with you, you will need quite a bit of money, as there are many temptations!