The best big breakfast!

Yummy big breakfast, eggs benedict is good too.

Great brunch and lunch food. And takeaway available and gourmet food options.

Great European food options plus your standard breakfast and lunch options. Good for coffee with a light snack too.

You can visit the Stardome Observatory day or night, rain or shine to experience the wraparound sky and special effects of a planetarium. Each clear evening you may also see planets, double stars, glowing gas nebulae, or lunar craters through their amazing telescopes. 

Auckland War Memorial Museum is my top pick for kids on a rainy day, with loads of parking, a cafe with decent coffee and endless exhibitions to explore. Weird & Wonderful is a favourite in our family, with new oddities to discover on every visit. And for most of us - it’s free!

In our family visits to Auckland Zoo are a big deal and happen on a very regular basis. It is definitely one of our happy places on a sunny winter’s afternoon, when you are highly likely to see more than a few animals soaking up the warm rays along with the visitors. Check their website for animal encounter times when you can pop in and see your favourite friends up close and personal, you might even get to feed them if you’re lucky!

Manukau City's public art gallery, Te Tuhi Centre for the Arts, is a huge space that includes multiple shows and a great café. It plays host to changing exhibitions, classes, school holiday programmes and more.

MOTAT is one of my favourite places to take kids, and the fact that their trams take you around the periphery of the Zoo and Western Springs Lakeside makes it even better. A sunny day can be spent without needing to jump in the car, and the buzz of a tram ride never seems to grow old.

Go bananas at the zoo. Stomp around like an elephant. Drink swill like a pig!

Spend a night cheering your home team to victory.

Fly a kite at one of Auckland's iconic hills.

Check out the geese, swans and swarming masses of eels in one of Auckland's most underrated parks.

Amazing Māori and Polynesian artefacts, amazing location.

Great ambience and great food

Whether its their a la carte menu (deconstructed carrot cake is on the menu) or their counter jewels (macaroons, tarts, gelatos and chocolate delcacies) there is something sweet for the foodies and not so foodies. #sweet degustation

Breakfast food and chocolate chip waffles. The place has international furniture and alfresco space, plus the interior is very european with its two stories

Seriously, try the carrot cake!

Besides all the other yummy stuff, their baguettes are awesome!

Fresh warm croissants, pastry and bread, you can't go wrong no matter what you pick.

If you ask me, Little & Friday is just the best.

It's always packed but it's always well worth the wait for a table. The cakes are fantastic and the coffee is really good, too. Great place to catch up with friends, just not in big groups.

My favorite on a rainy day, watching the fish swim by and enjoying the chaos of all the children yelling with delight

Fun for a date, or with the kids

Awesome Art Cinema, they always choose a great selection of movies and its perfect on a rainy day. Go watch a movie and follow it up with yummy dumplings across the road at Barilla

Its the peace and quiet that I always enjoy here, exhibitions are usually good, but for a few hours of therapy go and enjoy the latest at the Art Gallery

$15 pizzas on a Sunday, great for the kids too.

Inside a beautifully designed building, there's always an interesting art exhibition on. The cafe has some tasty treats also.

This is THE place to visit to learn more cultural and historical information about New Zealand and the world.

Every week, there is a new and fascinating art exhibition on display in this awesome little gallery in Devonport.

Always something interesting on show here. I attended the Documentary Edge International Film Festival which showcased some thought provoking films. There is also a nice bar to get a quiet drink afterwards.

Always something new on display here and a wonderful way to discover and learn.

I am a regular at the Auckland Museum- whether or not they have one of their fantastic exhibits on, I still find it fascinating to wander the great halls looking at different things.  Recently went to White Lights there and it was an absolute thrill! 

Food galore!!! A place to tempt all your senses!!!!!  La cigale has good coffee, mouth watering pastries  and fresh veges and fruit and lots more!! 

Great exhibitions- and a wonderfully designed interior with architectural integrity!

Some great foreign movies here- as sceptical I was, I am now hooked.

Culture.. or could be lack of... but either way you are in for a good night! Hilarious time for all- For the more conservative just note, the later the show, the more you blush!!

Stopped here for a quick break while driving on Sat. We all filled up our cups to the brim with wonderful flavors and toppings. After everyone was finished we jumped back into the car feeling glamorous and refreshed.  I will definitely be back soon!

A little sweet and a little salty this is definitely better than any popcorn I've ever had. It even caters to special dietary needs!!! Gluten free, dairy free, egg free, preservative free, nut free and more! I'm definitively in love with Kettle Korn!

Group F are coming back to the domain for Auckland Arts festival! This is my favorite pyrotechnic team. I haven't seen them in years, but last time I saw them they were incredible! The sky comes alive and the fireworks tell you a store. Definitely worth going to, it will make one hell of a night!

We took a group of 10 people and had a blast!!! The staff were really friendly, and there were walls for both experienced and inexperienced climbers. I loved how there were some really different walls and the glow in the dark room was epic!  All up it was a great night, well priced and I will definitely be going back!

Theres heaps of stuff here like cool puzzles, neat books, and a heap of things for the kids, I always loved this place when I was a kid and love taking them there now :)

The next big thing in Newmarket! The best tasting frozen yoghurt I've had with a selection from lemon sorbet to snickers!? The variety is simply unparellel! If you ever end up in Newmarket this is a must try, mango and natural combination is something to die for!

This store has been around for as long as I can remember! It's signature dish Binoffee pie served with either cream or yoghurt culminates your taste buds! Its like the saying "once you pop you can't stop" :D

A neat little store that serves...YES CHOCOLATE! From chocolate drinks to slices to pieces, this little parnell gem has captured the hearts of many Chocolate fiends, including mine! 

Famous for their desserts I had to take this adventure and it paid off! Coffee great, cake excellent!

Too many flavours to choose from I almost had a stroke! But with a decision finally made I took my first bite and fell in love with the gelato store instantly!

Spring into the school holidays with one of the coolest adventures you'll ever experience with the family. Jump is a revolutionary trampoline park that's all about taking this classic Kiwi backyard activity and making it safe and exciting for everyone - whether you are a kid or, like me, a big kid at heart. I recommend taking a group of adventurous adults and children along for a school holiday outing to remember and, because you can book online and in advance, it's a great way to plan an excellent day out, no matter the weather. The brainchild of a couple of clever Kiwis who got the idea while travelling around the US, indoor trampoline parks are a hot trend taking the world and now New Zealand by storm. Kids will love the multiple trampolines and safety padding around the walls that lets them test their acrobatic skills and limits without the same dangers of a garden trampoline. Jumping on a trampoline is also proving to be a bit of fitness craze and Jump hold special Jump Fit classes at this park. So popular is the concept that there are now two other parks open in Auckland's North Shore and in Hamilton in the Waikato with plans to create many more around New Zealand. Now that makes me want to jump for joy!

Action World is Kiwi ingenuity at its best. This New Zealand first - an amazing blow-up park in the West Auckland suburb of Henderson - was set up by a former professional trapeze artist, who had a vision of letting kids fly through the air with the greatest of ease. With no harnesses or safety lines necessary, tots, children and teens love flipping and flopping onto the comfortable safe surfaces below as they negotiate the high wire and shoot from trapeze to trapeze. There's also huge blow-up, colourful slides that the littlies love, an inflatable rock climbing wall and a jousting bridge, which is a hit with the boys. Not only is it a great idea for a school holiday outing but it's also a wonderful way to build confidence and self-esteem. You can just bowl up on the day but space is limited and it gets packed in the school holidays so it pays to make a plan and book online.

If you have to work during the school holidays, Youthtown has a series of renowned school holiday programmes for young children and teens alike - all of which are designed to delight and inspire. It pays to book early to secure your child a place in the programme of their choice with activities ranging from trips to the movies to a day visit to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. There's also in-house workshops that include cooking, crafts and even magic and circus skills. With programmes specially tailored for each week of the holidays, kids can enjoy it all, select the days they like best or choose what works for the family's schedule. Teens will enjoy a host of exciting activities and fun days out, including Blo-Karting (go-karting with the power of wind), a Rainbow's End visit and special Our Kitchen Rules and Amazing Race workshops. It's also a chance to make new friends and lifelong connections.

An excellent day out for kids who love interesting insects, reptiles, farm animals and, of course, butterflies, Butterfly Creek is one of South Auckland's true gems. And every school holidays it comes alive with magical events. To celebrate the warmer months ahead, the attraction - which is on the way to the Auckland Airport - is throwing a special Spring Festival. Over the coming weeks, kids can get up close and personal with Butterfly Creek's new baby animal arrivals while enjoying face-painting, mice racing through a maze and craft workshops. There's also going to be barbecue action and specials at the on-site cafe to make sure every day is a fantastic adventure to keep the kids captivated. And if you haven't yet seen Butterfly Creek's amazing Dinosaur Kingdom then it's a great opportunity for a unique encounter of the reptilian kind.

Do you have a budding photographer in your house or an animal-mad teen who is keen to get up close and personal with wildlife? In the late September/early October school holidays, the Auckland Zoo are running a very special programme for young teens aged 10 - 14, who like to view life from behind the lens. Learning to compose images, getting confident working with different camera modes and taking photos of both people and wildlife, the programme is designed to encourage creativity, conversation and team work. The workshops will be run by a zoo photography tutor and a zoo guide so that teens can create magic images and learn about animals all at the same time. Running every day in the school holidays from 9.30am to 2.30pm, it's a great chance for your teen to get an all access pass to one of Auckland's favourite destinations, as well as being a truly educational experience. Plus, they will walk away at the end of the holidays with a clutch of great photos and even better stories.

Exhibitions change regularly so you can always go a few times a year at least for a rainy inside date. And they have good night events too with live music and food and eats.

The Pink Floyd night show was pretty cool!

Just delicious food in a fun atmosphere. Chuck in some yum margaritas and you have a great date restaurant.

Sunday nights undercover from the rain in the car park, browse the great street vendors for yummy tastes