Retail & Other Therapies

Westfield Pakuranga shopping mall is conveniently located on the corner of Ti Rakau Drive and Pakuranga Highway and is an ideal place to pick up those everyday essentials. 

In nearby Pakuranga you will find te tuhi the mark, a community, cultural and arts centre.   The name te tuhi was determined in partnership with local iwi Ngai Tai because of its special relevance to the Pakuranga and Howick area.  Te tuhi offers classes and courses for adults and children in broad areas of art and design. It also presents concerts and special events. Open weekdays from 9 am - 5 pm and weekends from 10 am - 4 pm, closed 24 December – 5 January.

If art is your passion, drop into Uxbridge in Howick, an arts and cultural centre offering a changing programme of exhibitions.   Operating for 25 years they have a theatre, gallery, studio teaching spaces, cafe and rooms for hire. They offer a range of classes and workshops with daytime, evening and weekend hours.   The centre also runs day tours to local places of interest, including the many privately owned gardens in the area.    Opening hours weekdays 10am – 4pm and Saturdays 10.30am – 3.00pm.   Art Trail out East is an initiative of local artists who open up their studios at specified times to visitors – or by appointment.

Pay a visit to the Emilia Maud Nixon Garden of Memories, a unique reserve situated in a garden setting at 35 Uxbridge Road.  This garden was established by Emilia Maud Nixon (1870 – 1962) to help promote goodwill between all peoples by fostering understanding of the early settlers, pioneer women and the traditions of Maori, particularly the local iwi Ngai Tai.   The garden provides an area for people to visit and enjoy as well as  Emilia Maud Nixon’s original home   A range of educational programmes is offered and delivered from an area of the garden referred to by Miss Nixon as the Tainui Garden of Memories in honour of the Tainui people.

From Uxbridge Road, continue your art journey to the Monterey Art Gallery in Cook Street. This gallery features collectable art pieces including, sculpture, glass and ceramics created by renowned New Zealand artists. The works are displayed in a unique setting with a magnificent ceiling dome painted baroque style by a celebrated award-winning artist. The Gallery is open weekdays from 10 am – 5.30 pm and on Saturdays from 10 am – 2 pm.

The Polish Museum currently located in Elliot Street,  was set up to inform visitors about Polish history and the hardships of life as a Polish refugee.   It tells the story of New Zealand’s first refugees, a group of Polish adults and children, who fled slave labour camps in Siberia for a new life in New Zealand.   There are costumes, Polish handcrafts, war memorabilia and more. Entry is by donation and the museum is open from 11 am – 3 pm weekdays and 11 am - 5 pm on weekends.  (Photograph: Warsaw Castle)

A private garden open to the public is Valeside.   Set in over one and a quarter acres with spectacular views over Auckland, Valeside Gardens, offer a haven of tranquillity.   Ranging from the smallest succulents to large natives, this huge collection features rare and unusual plants collected since the conception of Valeside Gardens in 1994.   Open to the public by appointment.

Half Moon Bay is east Auckland’s ferry link to Auckland City and Waiheke Island. The marina was developed in 1967, and today is one of the busiest in Auckland. It gives boaties easy access to the Tamaki Strait where an abundance of sailing or fishing is on offer with unsurpassed views of the gulf islands.

It’s just a 20 – 30 minute ferry journey from the city to Half Moon Bay and a connecting bus link will take you to Howick and surrounding areas. Or if you’d rather travel from the eastern suburbs to the city the ferry is a great way to eliminate the worry and expense of finding parking in the CBD. These services are run by Fullers, who also . operate a passenger ferry services to Waiheke Island and Devonport on Auckland’s north shore. There are vehicle ferries run by Sealink, crossing daily to Waiheke providing the convenient option of taking your own transport onto the island. Before your sailing be sure to stop in at the Marina shopping centre which is a quaint mall with a selection of shops and several eateries in the fresh sea air.

The Mangemangeroa Reserve located on the banks of the Mangemangeroa Creek is an area described as having a “dramatic estuarine landscape at the edge of the urban area”. The flora in the Reserve is a prime example of coastal forest which is not easily viewed in any other part of suburban Auckland.

The Māori word Mangemangeroa means ‘valley of the Mangemange”. Mangemange is a climbing fern which was used by Māori to affix raupo thatch to the manuka frames whares (huts). The Europeans used the Mangemange as filling for mattresses. The valley exhibits several archaeological sites including several pā (fortified villages), kumara pits and midden of shell and hangi stones. The entrances to Mangemangeroa Reserve are off Somerville Road, Sanspit Road and Pohutukawa Ave.