Westburn Bike Park

This is one of those hidden secrets - not a lot of Christchurch people seem to know about it. We discovered it quite by accident when friends of ours told us about it.

Westburn Park is an average suburban playground but with a difference - it has a mini road system set up for kids. There are roundabouts, Give Way and Stop signs, a railroad crossing, pedestrian crossings, one way bridges, etc.



The kids LOVE this place. They could happily spend a couple of hours here, mostly riding their bikes around, but also taking turns at being pedestrians on the little footpaths, or just going and playing on the playground equipment.

It's aimed at kids aged up to about 8 years old.



Where: Westburn Terrace in Burnside. It runs between Greers and Grahams Road, on the south side of Memorial Ave. If you prefer, there is an alleyway to the park from Memorial Ave, opposite Burnside High.

Facilities: Toilets, drinking fountain, playground equipment, shady trees to sit under and a couple of park benches.

Travis Wetlands

It was a nice sunny day so we thought we'd take a walk around the Travis Wetlands.

We'd never been before, but had seen a city council brochure so thought it sounded interesting. My seven year old boy is mad about wildlife so was hoping to see something exciting.

The verdict? Yeah, it was okay. A pleasant walk.

It took us (one adult and two kids, aged 6 and 7) about an hour and a half to walk around the whole circuit. They were pretty tired at the end.

We went clockwise from the main carpark, and one of the first things you come to is a viewing hide, which was kind of cool.

We didn't see any particularly exciting birds, but there were plenty of ducks, a few geese, and lots of pukekos (which were pretty good as far as the kids were concerned). Oh yeah, we saw some hawks (harriers?) so that was cool.

Three quarters of the way around there is a tall viewing deck that you climb up to. Again, nothing really to see but lots of flaxes and rushes.

All in all, yeah, it was a pleasant walk and gave us some good exercise. Don't expect to see heaps of amazing wildlife, although you may strike it lucky (as apparently there are up to 55 different types of birds).

Take drink bottles as it can get pretty hot - there's not a lot of shade. The track is fine for pushchairs and wheelchairs.

Where: The corner of Travis Road and Frosts Road, out by QE2. There's a carpark off Frosts Road, up by Beach Road.

Cost: Free.

Website for maps and more info - click here.

The Beach in Wintertime

It's winter. It's cold. It's time to hit the beach!

Step One: Check the weather.
Choose a sunny winter's day - one that has a daytime temperature of at least 12 degrees is best! And try to avoid a windy day! Sand in kids' eyes ruins a nice day out.

Step Two: Check the tides.
I read the Press each day so I can look for the tide info there, on the weather page, or you can check out the Metservice website. You want to ideally choose a day where you get there bang on low tide.

Step Three: Go to the beach.
Dress warmly. Take gumboots and jackets. Maybe beanies if it's windy. We prefer South Brighton beach, but any old beach will do.



Step Four: Remember your shovels and spades!
We've got kid sized shovels, they're brilliant. Start digging!

Step Five: Dig.
Once you've dug your "island" and your "moat" sit on it and wait for the tide to come in. It's surprisingly fun!



Step Six: Home time!
After a couple of hours of this it's time to come home. Everyone is muddy and exhausted. An ice-cream on the way home is mandatory.

Have fun!

The Art Gallery

Oh we love the Art Gallery!

There's nothing better on a rainy day than to spend a pleasant hour or two wandering around the various galleries. My kids are aged 6 and 4 and they really love it too.

We usually park in the basement carpark ($1.10 per half hour). We peruse the downstairs exhibits (the temporary exhibits - by the way, the current Daniel Crooks exhibit is AMAZING! Well worth a visit!) before heading upstairs to the more permanent rooms.

There is a gallery set aside especially for kids, with plenty of interactive activities for them. It's great (not to mention educational)!

But even the main galleries are well worth a wander. My kids enjoy taking in all the different types of artworks, trying to decide what the picture is of, or what the artist was thinking when he or she made it.

There's a cafe downstairs if you fancy a snack (although to tell the truth, we avoid it when we have the kids with us as it just seems too fancy and I'm scared they'll break something!). There's also a gift shop which sells all sorts of exciting things (I was very excited to see my favourite painting on a gift card, mine for the very reasonable sum of $3).

Occasionally the gallery has shows and concerts on in the gallery foyer - last week we happened across a fantastic brass band concert, another time we came upon a hiphop dancing show.

And of course, admission is free - fantastic!

Visit the Art Gallery's website for more information on current exhibits and other bits and pieces.

The Art Gallery is in the central city, on Montreal Street, between Worcester and Gloucester Streets (the carpark entrance is off Gloucester Street).

Canterbury Museum

It was a cold rainy day so where better to go than to the Museum!

Unfortunately, nearly half of Christchurch and three quarters of all the tourists in town that day had the same idea. The place was heaving!

However, it was great.

I love the museum - it's such an interesting place to visit. The kids and I usually try to go along a couple of times a year, and even though it's usually always the same exhibits, it never gets boring.

We usually park in the Botanic Gardens carpark (free for up to 3 hours, and even if you stay longer there is no-one watching as far as I can see...) and walk through the gardens to the museum (about 5 to 10 minutes).

Once inside we go through the early New Zealand and Maori exhibits - the displays are always excellent!

Then we head through the old Christchurch streetscape, through the transport section, and we zip upstairs to the Egyptology, geology and dinosaur exhibits.

All of these different areas have plenty of hands-on stuff for the kids to enjoy - they get to sit on a horse in the old Christchurch street and go inside an olden-days toy shop. They get to ride in an old carriage and sit on a penny farthing in the transport section. There are magnet headdresses to put onto Egyptian pharoahs and you can touch meteorites and quartz in the geology section.

Then you come to the Discovery room - it is an added extra, especially for kids, and it costs $2 per person (free for under 3s). It is well worth it. (You can also pay an annual membership, about $15 if I remember rightly, which gives you unlimited access for the year).

We easily spend up to an hour in the Discovery Room - there are puzzles, books, magazines, toys, and a myriad of stuffed animals and pinned insects and butterflies to look at. My favourites are the jars upon jars of preserved specimens, including animal foetuses and even a human hand! The kids particularly like the animal figurines and the hands-on activities. We both really like opening up all the many specimen drawers to see what's inside.

My only complaint with the Discovery Room is the computers - they are loaded with The Magic Schoolbus games, but every single time we've tried to use them they seem to go SOOOOO SLOWWWWW. Plus the volume is set very low and we usually end up giving up in frustration after a few minutes.

Continuing on around the museum, there's the bird hall - always interesting. Then there's the boring room of Asian artifacts. Then there's the very interesting Canterbury environment exhibits - I always want to spend ages reading every single panel, but the kids always hurry me along as they're not that keen.

Last but not least is the Antarctic exhibit. Now, having just been to the Antarctic Centre a couple of weeks ago, I have to say that this exhibit is great. Save your money and just visit the museum instead.


Then there's the Museum Cafe. I have got good memories of this cafe - when I was a bored younger mother with two toddlers in a pram we used to come here during the quiet weekdays. The large picture windows give a lovely view of the Botanic Gardens and there were magazines for me to read while sipping my coffee. Plus there was a fantastic kids' play area, complete with baby friendly options also.

Then came this latest visit. Hmmmm.

Admittedly, it was a VERY busy Sunday afternoon. There were only two young women behind the counter, both working flat out, trying to serve the long queue. Unfortunately this meant that the cafe was disgustingly dirty. None of the girls had a chance to come out to clear and wipe tables. Every table was laden with dirty dishes.

I ordered a mocha coffee, which took about 10 minutes to arrive (due to the woman making coffees being snowed under in orders). It was the worst coffee ever. Luke warm, with a huge solid lump of grainy chocolate (inedible) at the bottom which made the last quarter of the cup undrinkable.

We also had a piece of chocolate fudge cake. Seeing as it was obviously made earlier in the day I figured it couldn't go wrong, right? Wrong. Worst fudge cake ever. It was disgusting and had the texture of sawdust.

I could have gone and complained, but those poor girls looked very unhappy to be there anyway. We just quietly left.


So that was my only disappointment, and it was a REAL disappointment after my previously good encounters in this cafe.


But overall, the museum is GREAT.


Cost - FREE!!!! (Donations accepted). $2 per person for the Discovery Room.

Allow - 2 hours minimum, but you could easily spend 3 - 4 hours there.

Location - Rolleston Ave, central Christchurch.

Visit the website for more information!

Barnett Park Cave walk

If you're into walking and you're after a pleasant short walk then Barnett Park might be what you're after.

It's in Redcliffs, on the main road. There's a playground at the start, so you can bribe the kids with Happy Times once they complete the walk.

The walk supposedly takes about an hour and forty minutes, in a round trip.

I've attempted it twice.

The first time was with my husband and two kids, aged 3 and 5. The five year old was fine. The three year old found it tough going and made life a misery for us all.

We managed to make it up two thirds of the track, the goal of the big cave lurking tantalisingly just a short distance away, but no. After more than an hour we had to stop for good and turn back. Damn.



The second time I tried the track I went with a friend. I didn't realise just how uber-fit she was, and just how uber-unfit I was. We set off at a cracking pace, and within two minutes into the uphill leg I was wheezing like an asthmatic. Not good.


We continued, with rest breaks every hundred metres or so for poor old me. Rather embarrassing.


We finally made it up to the cave - what a great cave (wheeeeze!)! What a great view (wheeeze!)! I'm sure that fitter people would have appreciated it more than I did.


The downhill leg was much easier.


We managed to complete the round trip in about an hour, which is still pretty good, but gosh, it was hard.


Watch for sheep poo - it's everywhere. Watch for the little side track about two thirds of the way up - it takes you to a secret (or not so secret, judging by all the rock climbing carabiners on the rock faces) cave, which is quite cool to be in and makes up for those not being quite fit enough to make it to the main cave.

The little side cave.

So there you have it. Barnett Park walk. A pleasant morning out for the fitter ones amongst us, a torturous trek with a nice view at the top for the rest of us.

Summertimes

Well, summer in Christchurch is finally crawling to its end, and so does Summertimes.

"What is Summertimes?" I hear you ask. Well, it's just a whole bunch of events, festivals, concerts, yada yada yada, that happen in summer. The Christchurch City Council markets them all together as Summertimes.

Some of the stuff is a bit... *yawn*... boring. But most of it is great.

We have certain events that we go to EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.


One of them is the World Busker's Festival.

Fantastic stuff! Free entertainment! Hilarious antics! Special shows just for the kids, as well as special night-time shows JUST for the adults (heh heh heh...).

Of course, as I said, it's free... but remember that they're buskers - this is what they do for a living. The council pays for their airfares and accommodation (altogether now! Y! M! C! A!) but they have to beg off the audience for their paychecks. (We're a bit stingy in our household but the kids do love to throw a couple of coins in the busker's hat - it's all part of the experience.)

So, the Busking Festival is a must-see. It happens every year in Christchurch in mid-January. Check out the website for more details.


What else? Oh, there's a myriad of other things to do and see. We used to go to the Teddy Bear's Picnic until the year we lost our 2 year old son in the 10,000 strong crowd. It was a tense 25 minutes, I tell you. Teddy bears or not, we've never been again.

The Culture Galore festival at Ray Blank Park is always another must-see in our household, both for the extraordinary array of cultures exhibiting (who knew that so many different nationalities resided in whiter-than-white ol' Christchurch???) and the fact that Ray Blank Park is only a block from Grandma's house. But seriously - the kids had a great time, and when you have a Free Bouncy Castle and Free Face Painting on offer (amongst other Free Stuff), what more could you ask for?


And finally, the other Fave Festival is the Chinese Lantern Festival, held every Chinese New Year in Victoria Square. This year it was a bit of a wash-out, but last year's event was spectacular. One word 0f warning though - hold on to your children's hands VERY TIGHTLY. Better still - carry them. The crowds were so dense that I was seriously worried that we would be crushed or suffocated. (Maybe in this respect the rained out event was better after all.)


These are just a few of the many things on offer in Christchurch during the summer. Take a look at the Summertimes website to check them out.

And if you're just wondering "What's on this week in Christchurch?" then have a squizz at the Be There website. Plenty of things to see and do. You can even get a weekly newsletter emailed to you to let you know what's happening so that you don't miss a thing.

Have fun!

The library!

Some people might think that the thing I'm about to suggest is about as exciting as watching paint dry, and for them that may just be the case. (I'm also surprised that these people can read are reading this at all, but there you have it.)

We LOVE visiting the library. Myself and the kids visit at least weekly. We have a card each, each cardholder is able to take out up to 20 items a time, and so we're usually walking out of the local library each week laden down with 60 books/DVDs/posters/videos in several carrier bags.

If you have preschoolers then the Storytime sessions are a great source of free entertainment for an hour each week. For parents who're bored stiff and know no other parents, they're also a great way to meet new people. (I should know - nearly all of my best friends were collected at the library).

Once a month the Storytime hour is taken over by a Music and Movement hour - again, totally free and great fun for the little ones.

If your little ones are REALLY little ones (i.e. under 2) then there's also Babytimes - these are monthly sessions and even sometimes end with a laid-on morning tea, with the emphasis on the parents getting to know each other.

I *heart* our libraries!


Christchurch has a huge number of libraries, and just about every suburb has easy access to one. Some are in stunning locations - I have spent many a relaxing half hour reading magazines while sitting on the sea-view seats looking out over the Pacific Ocean at the New Brighton Library.

Libraries are no longer all about books - on a rainy day you'll find plenty of people playing computer games, surfing the net, reading magazines, and even playing Playstation games (only in some libraries!). You can borrow movies (kids' ones are free!), posters, CD roms, talking books, puzzles and more.

If you have preschoolers, and are at a loose end, then try to find a Storytime session. Relaxing, easy, back to basics stuff.


Library locations in Christchurch:

Central, Bishopdale, Halswell, Fendalton, Hornby, Linwood, Lyttelton, New Brighton, Papanui, Parklands, Redwood, Shirley, South, Spreydon, Sumner, Upper Riccarton.

For Storytimes session details visit here.

Waitangi at Willowbank

You all know that I love Willowbank. It's a great day out for the family, in my humble opinion.

Well, for those of you too stingy to fork out to see for yourself, head along down to Husseys Road on Waitangi Day (February 6th) - every year Willowbank offers free entry between 10am and 3pm.

I've never been along myself on that day as I hear it can get a bit crowded (and with my ANNUAL PASS -did I mention what great value that is yet? - I can go whenever I like anyway) but there is apparently entertainment and it's a good day out.

So there you go.

The Groynes

There were five of us - myself, a couple of four year olds and a couple of five year olds. It was a hot stinking day - it got to about 35 degrees celsius and the nor'wester was howling. What to do? Where to go?

Well, I think most sane people would have stayed indoors in the cool and calm, but we went to the Groynes.

Okay, now that you've stopped making silly jokes about the place's name (yes yes, we've all been there, done that), the Groynes is actually not a bad place to be on a hot day.

For a start, there's HEAPS of shade. Trees, trees, trees. A couple of little playground areas. Lots of little lakes and waterways.

The Groynes is really one big ol' picnic spot. Go there any weekend or public holiday during the summer and you'll be one amongst thousands of others with their rugs out under a shady tree.

For all of that, there's not much else to do, except picnic, take a walk on the various trails, or hire one of the little boats. You can also fish there if you have a permit.

If you have a dog, the Groynes even has its own dedicated Dog Park. I don't have a dog, so haven't been over to that side of the park to take a look, but I'm sure the dogs love being able to run free.

There's plenty of birdlife to be seen - the ubiquitous ducks, a few geese, some swans, and some of these little critters.

In the end myself and the four little ones had a nice couple of hours at the Groynes. We ate sandwiches under a shady tree then played in the playground. I then devised a scavenger hunt for them (Things to find: white feather, wiggly stick, pointy leaf, etc; Things to see: someone fishing, a boat, a swan, etc...) and we headed off on the 1.5km loop track. The track was in shade for most of the time so it was fine. The kids' little legs kept getting tired, so I had to use the age-old Bribe Technique of promising a sweetie "at the next bridge!" (I mean, what madperson goes on an outing with four little children and does NOT pack bribes into her bag?).

After two hours in the heat of the day we'd definitely had enough. We were going to buy an ice-cream at the kiosk on our way out, but I only had 60 cents in my wallet, which definitely wasn't enough. Oh well, another sweetie!

The Groynes

Off Johns Road, just off State Highway 1 heading north out of the city

Hours: daylight hours

Cost: free (although you can pay to use the coin-operated barbecues if you want)

The Botanic Gardens playground

The Christchurch Botanic Gardens playground is CLASSIC. I have photos of myself, aged 3 years old, playing happily there. It is practically a Christchurch institution.

These days the playground is a bit safer than it used to be - heaps of sturdy plastic equipment, plenty of soft mats to fall on, and NO roundabouts (have you noticed that every playground in Christchurch is slowly but surely becoming roundabout bereft? Not that I'm particularly upset, as I've spent many a worrying moment watching toddlers attempt to board a speeding one). But the playground STILL has the wonderful toddler pools and is still situated in a gorgeous and central part of town.



The good things:

• The pools. There are two pools - one bigger and deeper for the older children (it's about 70 or 80cm at its deepest, at my guess) and a smaller shallower one for the babies and toddlers (about 10 or 20cm deep). These are only filled in the summertime, so remember to bring your togs on those hot nor'wester days!


• The equipment. There are two areas - one specifically aimed at toddlers, which is handy as you don't end up getting your just-walking one year old knocked over by rambunctious eight year olds, and the other is a general play area with the usual swings, slides and monkey bars.


• The Botanic Gardens in the centre of the city - you're right there. It's a lovely setting and SO easy to wander off with the kids on a nature walk.


• The ice-cream shop attached to the kiosk.


• The places to sit and have a picnic - plenty of seating around the place and heaps of grassed areas to lay out a picnic rug.


• The toilets - only a short walk away.


• Car parking - plenty of free carparks in Hagley Park - take the Armagh Street/Rolleston Ave entrance.


• For those with disabled children, there is also a special wheelchair friendly swing - I've never seen it being used but at least it's there.


• The ducks from the nearby Avon River. Remember to take some bread! The kids LOVE feeding the ducks, and in spring you have the added bonus of ducklings.

The bad things:

• The ducks. Don't feed them IN the playground area if you can help it, as they end up pooing all the over the place. Watch where you sit.


• In the winter try to avoid the playground before about 11am, or else you'll find all the equipment is covered in dew. It's a bit tragic to have upset kids wondering why their backsides are wet when the sun is shining.

This place is really popular during weekday mornings with mothers' groups, as the preschoolers have the run of the place while the older kids are at school. Bring your own thermos of coffee or buy a cappuccino and a slice at the nearby kiosk cafe - even better on a cold winter's morning as they have an open fire.

Make sure you take the time to stand on the footbridge leading to the carpark and look for trout and eels in the river below. And if you have an extra ten minutes walk the 100m or so over to Victoria Lake and watch the old men playing with their remote control yachts - the kids love this!

THE LOWDOWN:

Cost: Free!

Location: Botanical Gardens, in Hagley Park. Either walk through the gardens going West from the Museum entrance, or drive into the Armagh Street entrance and park in the carpark and then head over the footbridge - the playground is just there.

Hours: The gates are open during daylight hours.

Suitable for: Everyone!

Allow: as much time as you have - half an hour is okay, but three hours and a picnic is better.