Kerikeri Travel Guide

  Award winning sutropical Garden
by taznz
 
  • Award winning sutropical Garden
      Award winning sutropical Garden
    by taznz
  •   Things to Do
    by Robdaz
  •   Things to Do
    by Robdaz
  • The Stone House
      The Stone House
    by Robdaz
  • Kerikeri eco cottage
      Kerikeri eco cottage
    by taznz
 

Explore Kerikeri

Things to Do  

The Parrot Place
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Kate-Me 1683 reviews
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Not to be missed! A wonderful little bird park in a tropical garden setting.

I visit almost every bird park I can, and this one was one of the best ones I've seen in a very long time. It was quite different to our Ballarat Bird World at home, and a much smaller operation, set up in someone’s garden (though it was a fairly large garden) surrounded by tropical trees.
They also had a pet supplies shop in their garage, and parrot souvenirs, window light catchers etc. The owners, a husband and wife team, seemed to really enjoy giving people a guided tour of the park too.
As there were only about 2 other people there at the time, it was nice and quiet as Peter showed us around and spent a lot of time telling us interesting stuff about various individual birds.
First up was a perch area outside the garage where several hand reared baby parrots were sitting. These were very tame and Paul could even put one on his shoulder. Very pretty indeed. There was also a long billed Corella (who talked a bit) which wandered freely around the garden (with clipped wings) and also did hanging upside down tricks in return for a nut. He also had developed a new trick of trying to turn the knob on the door which led into the walk-through finch aviary (where there were finches from Australia, NZ & elsewhere)
There were many different species of Australian parrots, some we didn’t know well, others that were very familiar. There were also a couple of huge blue & yellow south American Macaws.
A very well kept, clean park. The birds seemed happy and well entertained.

Updated Dec 23, 2006

Address: 1 Mission Road, Kerikeri

Phone: (09) 407 5146

Related to:
 Budget Travel
 Road Trip
 Birdwatching

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See the old Stone Store
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2.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

Kate-Me 1683 reviews
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The Stone Store was completed in 1835, part of the mission station. Today it is a general store and museum.

Written Dec 4, 2006

Address: KeriKeri basin

Related to:
 Road Trip

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See the Kemp House
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Kate-Me 1683 reviews
the Kemp House

The Kemp house is the oldest surviving building in New Zealand. It was built for the pioneer missionary Reverend Samuel Marsden (Anglican) around 1821.
The surroundings are very tranquil and the Kerikeri basin in front of the Kemp House and Stone store is a popular place for yachts.

Written Dec 4, 2006

Related to:
 Road Trip
 Architecture

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Explore the very North
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Lozza_9 188 reviews

We basically stayed in Kerikeri to allow us to visit the far north with the tor we had booked. To see more visit my Ninety mile beach page.

The Town is a very nice and pleanty of places to eat.

I even maanged to get a well deserved hair from a nice salon in town. The hairdresser spent a few years in London and was aksing me if anything ha changed.

Written Feb 11, 2005

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Kemp House and Stone Store
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2.5 out of 5 starsHelpfulness

IcemanNZL 58 reviews
Kemp House

Kemp House and the Stone Store are two of New Zealand's oldest buildings, situated in the Kerikeri Basin. Founded in 1819 on ground granted to the Reverend Samuel Marsden by the Nga Puhi cheif, Hongi Hika.

Kemp House is the oldest surviving European building in New Zealand. The Stone Store is the country's oldest surviving stone building.

Kemp House was build in 1821-22 as a mission house. From 1824 till 1831 the house was occupied by the lay missionary George Clark and from mid 1832 by blacksmith and lay missionary James Kemp and his family. The mission was closed in 1848 and the decendants lived there until 1974 when it was presented to the New Zealand historic Places Trust.

The nearby Stone Store was build in 1832-36 as a storehouse for the mission. After the mission closed in 1848 it was taken over by the Kemp family and leased by a number of storekeepers.

Both building have undergone major renovation work and are open for public viewing to see how the Kemp family lived.

In March 1981 there was the Great Kerikeri Flood which nearly destroyed Kemp House, Inside the Kemp House is a book showing the photos taken during the flood and the work to restore the house.

Written Jan 20, 2004

Address: Kerikeri Basin, Kerikeri

Related to:
 Historical Travel
 Architecture

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Hotels  

Kerikeri Homestead Motel

 1 Review and 75 Opinions  Nice and Clean with a lovely pool 

Kerikeri Park Motel

 62 Opinions

Hotels  

Wharepuke Subtropical Accommodation: Stylish Eco Cottages in Subtropical garden Oasis

Wharepuke Subtropical Accommodation: Stylish Eco Cottages in Subtropical garden Oasis, Kerikeri

 taznz Says:  5 new (Jan 2007) stylish family-run cottages nestled amongst 5 acres of award winning subtropical garden. The eco cottages offer; Super king or long twin beds, self catering facilities. Privat deck overlooking the gardens. Original Artworks. A blend of modern and eco... 

Restaurants  

Cafe Zest: Hair and Laughter
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logan2000 1 reviews

If you want good food and great service do NOT go to Cafe Zest.. Upon finding hairs in a scone and sandwich I quickly returned to the counter to show the staff my findings.. their response... Laughter and then the inadequate trained staff members (2 of them) said "then youll be wanting another scone and sandwich?"
Not only would my food have hair in it but the entire batch of scones would. You would think to remove that infected batch.. No, they continue you sell them.
Am surprised I dont see more reviews about them like this, as many locals have similar comments.

Favorite Dish: Leaving it.

Written Oct 7, 2007

Address: Kerikeri

Related to:
 Study Abroad
 Food and Dining
 Budget Travel

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Local Customs  

Farmers Market
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Kate-Me 1683 reviews
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KeriKeri has a great farmers market on a Sunday (not sure if it's every Sunday or once a month) that we visited - local produce, you can try local wines, pates & other products, plus there's a bit of entertainment & food you can buy, like delicious crepes.

Written Dec 23, 2006

Related to:
 Food and Dining
 Wine Tasting
 Road Trip

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Favorites  

Picnic, feed the ducks & go for walks
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Kate-Me 1683 reviews
duck, bird & chook & rooster feeding!
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Favorite thing: We enjoyed this a little parking area just over the bridge from the KeriKeri Basin's stone store & Kemp House. There are plenty of parking spaces & grassy picnic areas with picnic tables.

When we got out of the car, we found ducks galore, seagulls, and even hens & roosters in the car park wanting a feed (don’t know where the latter came from).
There was also a mother duck in a puddle like part of the drain leading down to the river, with no less than 9 tiny chicks, which were so tiny they looked like they must have been just born. So cute.
We walked across the other side of the road to get a better view of the Old Stone Store – a very picturesque section of river here, very tranquil and pretty. Behind us on the hill was the town's Tourist Information Centre, which we took a brief look in, and also beside it, a recreated maori fishing village attraction called Rewa’s Village that we didn’t stop to see.

From the park itself there are also several walks of between 30 minutes to 1 hour, including one to an old power station near a river with waterfall. l

Written Dec 23, 2006

Related to:
 Road Trip
 Photography

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Map of Kerikeri