 | Auckland Shopping | Tips 1 - 10 of 53 |  |
 | |  |  | Victoria Park Market: Local arts, crafts and souvenirs | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
Victoria Park Market is a bit of a local landmark with its tall brick chimney. Originally built as the city's 'rubbish destructor' with furnaces to burn the rubbish from the young city of Auckland, the buildings fell into disrepair before being refurbished in the 1970's. Victoria Park Market now houses shops and stalls selling local arts and crafts and typical New Zealand souvenirs. There are cafes and foodstalls and very often live music and entertainment too. The market is open 7 days a week from 9am to 6pm. A definite 'must do' while you are in Auckland.
As with most places like this, there is a fair amount of 'tat' as well as the quality stuff. Steer clear of the trashy T shirts and sunglasses and go for the hand made jewellery, the carvings, the greenstone and the local art. There is also a very good quality crystal outlet if you are into that sort of thing.
It depends on what you go for really, there is quite a cross section of outlets here, but in terms of typical souvenir hunting, the prices here are similar to other shops away from the city centre. Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftAddress: 210 Victoria Street West, Central AucklandDirections: Opposite Victoria Park, keep an eye out for the tall brick chimney ~ it's 125 feet tall! Explorer and Link buses run from the centre of Auckland.
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| | | | Parnell Village Shops: Parnell Quality Crafts | Tip Rating: | | | | |
I found in this shop a big array and large selection of very nice souvenirs of New Zealand. All sorts of bits, large and small. Native wooden bowls, Merino woollen garments, craft made toys, postcards, jewellery, something for everyone. Even possum skin items, bags and scarves etc. Remember possum skin helps protect our native bush and fauna and also our protected kiwi birds. These animals are a major problem in our wilds, therefore killing for their skins is encouraged.
As mentioned already there is something for everyone here, large or small. If you fancy to pay big money for craft items you can pay $4000 for a large lamp or if you only want to spend $1 on a tiny bumble bee or postcard, you can. I found the price of the native wooden turned bowls reasonable compared to similar items around the country.
$1 to $4000 kiwi dollars!! Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftAddress: 237 Parnell Road, Parnell, Auckland.Phone: 09 - 309 8740Directions: Heading up Parnell Rise on the right down a back alley behind a building.
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| | | | The Elephant House: Everything but elephants! | Tip Rating:  | | | | |
The Elephant House in Parnell is a fabulous treasure trove full of gifts and local crafts including everything from greenstone and paua jewellery (paua is a beautiful irridescent shell), wood carvings, totara fence post jars (a kiwi peculiarity!), paintings, pottery and clothing. If you're looking for a kiwi souvenir, but one that is just a little different than the tat that a lot of gift shops churn out, then the Elephant House is for you. Tucked away down an old narrow alleyway of Parnells main street, even its old fashioned surroundings are just a little bit special.
Well, there are those totara fence post jars I mentioned....totara is a native timber, and some enterprising soul decided to put an old fence post on a lathe and fashion a jar out of the post. I have a lovely one myself (made by a friends son) which sits proudly on my bookcase. They come in all sizes, and the nice ones (like mine) have quite a bit of the rough wood still in evidence.
Depending on the size you opt for, expect to pay anywhere between $25 ~ $55 NZD for a totara fence post jar. Leave a Comment Theme: Local CraftAddress: Elephant Walkway, ParnellDirections: Parnells main street is slightly uphill. Walking up, Elephant Walkway is about 2/3's up on your right hand side.
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on May 31, 2005
on February 6, 2005
on October 15, 2003
