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Waiuku – Situated an easy 20 minutes from the Drury off-ramp of Auckland’s Southern Motorway (S.H.1) visitors will delight in this friendly, inviting “heritage” town.

The towns focal point is the Kentish Hotel [link/click to photo] built in the 1850’s by Edward Constable from Kent in England and of the first Europeans to settle at Waiuku. With it’s ornate verandahs and backdrop to Waiuku’s history the “Kentish”, as it is known locally, is New Zealand’s oldest licenced hotel and just “oozes” character. The Kentish continues to be a much photographed place aswell as one for civic and social occasions and an ever popular place for locals and visitors to eat and drink and spin a yarn or two!

A stroll around Waiuku will reveal much more including it’s waterfront Tamakqe Reserve, [link/click to photo] home to a fascinating Waiuku Museum [link/click to photo] crammed full of everything from old sailing boats and historic photographs to the earliest mobile phones the size of shoe boxes – a real treasure trove for all ages and a bargain at $2 to enter! The Reserve also has a small historic “village” with several restored buildings including Hartmann House, [link/click to photo] dating back to 1886, now fully restored and operating as a local craft studio, Pollock Cottage (1890), Waiuku Jail (1865) and The Creamery (1890’s). A Heritage Trail around town (free information leaflet from the Waiuku Information Centre / [pdf download document???]) will point out further sites of historic interest in Waiuku including Wesley Methodist Church (1883) [link/click to photo] from where visitors to the town can get a panoramic view across Waiuku and the waterfront reserve.

Visitors of all ages aswell as locals to town can combine a relaxed and enjoyable weekend with all the benefits often associated with bigger towns…..except here its hassle free, low key, the parking’s free and the welcome’s genuine!!

Several excellent cafes and restaurants are now open at the weekends attracting visitors from out of the city to relax, indulge and enjoy brunch, lunch or dinner as part of a family day out in Waiuku and it’s numerous neighbouring attractions, including the stunning West cost blacksand beach of Karioitahi [link/click to photo] and the Glenbrook Vintage Railway [link/click to photo] both just 10 minutes away.

An increasing number of Waiuku shops are opening longer on Saturdays and many on Sundays too offering a relaxed informal and friendly shopping experience with a wide range from boutique fashion stores to antique and artifact stores, a traditional Butcher/Fishmonger, hardware store, handmade solid furniture store and even a macadamia “chocolatier and ice-cream” maker.

A “veggie and craft” market runs on the first and 3rd Saturday of each month (9-2) and access to fuel, digital and film processing, two supermarkets, public conveniences, pharmacy needs and ATM machines are all readily available. For those of you who want to come back on a more permanent basis and enjoy the enviable lifestyle that Franklin region offers the major real estate agencies are also represented in town listing a vast range of properties, including many lifestyle properties.