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Family fun

Whangarei Indoor Activities, Attractions and Places to Visit

Bay of Islands, North Island

Indoors, warm and dry there is plenty to do in Whangarei. Family, friends and kids will not utter the word bored. The city offers harbour strolls around several museums from the new Hundertwasser Art Centre to a quirky museum focused on the Packard motor vehicle. The day is sorted with time spent warm and toasty in a horticultural hothouse or in the wet world of marine exploration. Perhaps your ideal day is to go underground and explore caves at Kawiti, in nearby Kawakawa. Plenty to do and things to see regardless of the weather.

 

INTERESTING FACT NOTE

INTERESTING FACT NOTE AFFILIATE PARTNER STATEMENT

Weather in Northland, Whangarei

Winterless North means no frosts with an average winter temperature between 12 -16c. Just a nip in the air with the promise of winter rain. Pack an umbrella and enjoy your holiday.

 

Packard Motor Museum vintage fire engines
Packard Motor Museum vintage fire engines
  1. PACKARD MUSEUM

 

In a former Dairy Factory and a number of large warehouses is one of New Zealand’s largest collections of motor vehicles, motor bikes and military vehicles. The Packard Motor Museum provides an informative educational experience based around the automobiles, machinery, stories and lives of those who led the industrial revolution and created and shaped transportation.

You will hear the beat of a Ford T classic motor vehicle as the crankshaft is turned and the roar of a 1950’s New Zealand police issued motorbike. It’s fun, informative. Remember to take a selfie of your teenage girl against the bonnet of a Ford escort complete with the model in a cool1970’s mini skirt and jacket.

 

 

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What to do nearby Packard Motor Museum?

In the former administration buildings of the dairy factory is a cafe with great coffee and a friendly cat.

  1. HARBOURSIDE STROLL – MUSEUMS & ART GALLERIES

 

There are cosy cafes aplenty, shaded corners from raindrops and museums from the internationally respected Whangarei Art Museum to Clapham Clock Museum. For school holiday programmes and exhibitions check out Reyburn House Art Gallery. The new star on the block is the Hundertwasser Art Centre where tiling is anything but in ordered lines.

Hundertwasser Art Centre, Whangarei, Northland, NZ
Hundertwasser Art Centre, Whangare
Poor Knights Islands, New Zealand
Poor Knights Islands
  1. DIVE TUTUKAKA (Tutukaka snorkelling and diving cruises)

 

Wet outside the marine world is a perfect place to spend the day.

The Poor Knights Islands offer world class sub-tropical diving. The Islands are a total Marine Reserve, where water temperatures are warmer & visibility is clearer than on the New Zealand coast. The layered underwater landscape results in a special environment in which subtropical and temperate marine life co-exist with extraordinary variety, glorious colour and in large numbers. Check out What’s so great about Tutukaka for more inspiration what to do nearby.

  1. BOTANICA WANGAREI

 

A horticultural glasshouse complex is a great rainy day idea. The fernery, the exotic palms and cacti create a tropical world where it does not matter about the weather outside. Admission is free and Botanica is wheelchair accessible.

 

More about Whangarei Botanica Gardens

The Ferney Botanica Whangarei hothouse seat, admire the begonias and lush foliage, Northland NZ
The Ferney Botanica Whangarei hothouse seat
@Kawiti Family Glow worm Caves
@Kawiti Family Glow worm Caves
  1. KAWITI GLOW WORMS – Go underground

 

Visit Kawiti Glow Worms, have lunch in Kawakawa, and check out Huntawasser public toilets. The glow worms and cave system. Located right in the heart of the Waiomio Valley, the Waiomio Glowworm Caves are home to thousands of luminous glow worms, breathtaking rock formations and lush green rainforest.

 

Explore the well-known milky way, a cavern filled with glow worms as far as the eye can see. Journey underground through networks of stalactites and stalagmites to hidden chambers like the Waiomio night sky where the glow worms are so close you can almost touch them. Forward bookings are recommended.

For more holiday ideas check out Whangarei travel guide and get planning your next adventure.

 

AFFILIATE PARTNER STATEMENT
Our editors independently visit tour operators, purchase tickets, pay for accommodation, and rate products and places. We are not paid to go on a tour or visit a place. We only make money if you decide to purchase a product through our website links. We promise to never accept free products from manufacturers in return for boosting their products. Read more about our affiliate programme in the terms and conditions HERE.

 

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Best Bits travel guide is published by nzjane.com. Owned and managed by PacificJane Ltd.

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