Sunny Otaki

Otaki has a great selection of parks for the kids, and this little spot located on the main highway, near all the shops is a fantastic place for a quick stop. Whether your other half is shopping at Otaki's outlet stores or your taking a quick break before getting back on the road, the kids will love having a run around in this sweet little park.  There are plenty of picnic tables and park benches to sit down relax and the kids will enjoy playing on the round-around, red tractor, giant rocking horse and swing. This park is also known as the Otaki i-Site playground.  The big red tractor My little boy especially loved the big red tractor and spent most of his time " Driving the Farmers Car ". Look out for further blog posts on the other great children's parks in Otaki and Te Horo. 

The Millennium Forest, located at Haruatai Park, was planted by Otaki Children at the start of the Millennium. Which was a project sponsored by the Otaki Rotary Club.  Location, location, location You'll find the Millennium Forest Haruatai Park located past the sports playing fields. It was a great spot for some beautiful photographs of native trees and plants. It was a slightly overcast day when we took these photographs, but the green lush colours seemed even more vibrant than usual. Close by You'll also find Haruatai Park playground, Otaki Swimming pools with an awesome splash pad, a beautiful pathway that surrounds the park, playing fields, a sports club and a scout hall.

My First Fishing trip at Otaki River Mouth with Nanna and Poppa, it was pretty successful, I managed to find two sticks, five rocks and Nanna and Poppa caught a bucketful of fish for my dinner. I wasn't aloud in the water, but Nanna did give me a bath when we got home, I was covered in sand and shells.

My last blog post, Around the World in Otaki  was so popular, I thought I would create a part 2.  Otaki and Te Horo have some beautiful landscapes, varying wildly from sunsets, kite festivals, forests, rivers and churches which rival that of other locations around the world and you can visit some of the most famous locations around the globe right on your door-step! Check out Around the World in Otaki Part One here .

Otaki has come along way, the beautiful Rangiatea Church was destroyed in a horrific fire, but rebuilt by the community, there is amazing shopping on the main highway and on Main street, the Beach Pavillion is still used the by public.   It may not be a post office anymore, but it's a well used and well loved building housing cultural art work. We've put togther a couple of then and now photographs. What do you remember from this wonderful town ?

Pavola, the traditional Kiwi Dessert, no party is a success without one!  Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum in Wellington, celebrated its first birthday in February 1999 with the creation of the world's largest pavlova, named "Pavzilla", which was cut by the Prime Minister of the time, Jenny Shipley.

Retracing your family steps and finding out where you come from can be an amazing step back into history. Otaki and Te Horo both have a wonderful and rich history, and using the local resources available you'll be able to research your family tree. Who know's who you'll find...

A quick drive up to Otaki Gorge to run a few errands and the scenery never disappoints! Out with the Camera and snapping a few shots of a very beautiful Otaki. All but the last photo  #DonkeyDoo, are   just over the road swing bridge on Parenga Road, a simple farm scene, but looks spectacular! The last photo, just made me giggle, love the signage and the little imagery of the Donkey. Once again, thanks Otaki!

How many different ways can you photograph the word Otaki, we've put together a few to get you started, what can you do, shells, sticks, water, leaves, people, what ever you can get your hands on, photograph the word Otaki with what you can find...

“The plan to provide something to ease the burden of Christmas for some of our town’s families originated from Strengthening Families in Levin, who had funding for the year left over and decided to to buy hampers or presents for families with very little. A lot of community groups donated to this as well, in particular Subway, who set up a tree in both their Levin and Otaki stores, and asked people to leave presents there. 

The Long Walk Home – day two Day two started very early for me and I was soon on the train to Mana ready to do it all again – a hot bath and a good night’s sleep had ensured that I was still raring to go.  My walking partner was not quite so raring to go as was suffering from a sore ankle but she had strapped it up and joined me at the start. The words of encouragement on the second day were from Porirua’s mayor and we were soon on our way. 

I am a relative newcomer to New Zealand (Jan 2013) and while I was aware of the risk of earthquakes before we boarded the plane at Heathrow, to be honest I hadn’t really given the reality of earthquakes and their aftermath a second thought.  That changed for me in August 2013 when I started work at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Massey University and GNS) as my first task was analysing interviews from Christchurch GPs about their earthquake and recovery experiences.

  Oh my god, it's a Zombie outbreak!! Halloween is fast approaching and if your worried about an impending Zombie attack, then never fear, here is the Kapiti Coast Zombie Survival guide to help you through this Halloween.  Keep ahead of the pack, the best hide-outs and how to not get bitten... Good luck!

Do you love the beach?   Spend all day there? Why not, Otaki Beach is fantastic, and Zilchoo have put together 25 signs you love Otaki Beach, do any of these look familiar? We'd like to know if any of these signs match your beach going activities...or if you'd like to any any more to the list!  Don't forget, Slip, Slop, Slap!

Be part of an amazing and beautiful cultural experience, learn about Otaki’s rich history and explore the historic sites of Otaki with Zilchoo's 10 ways to discover Otaki's Rich History... 

This is an oldie but a goodie!  Can you add any more to the list, how about specific words we only use in Otaki and Te Horo?

Otaki`s Main street is dominated by then Otaki Bank Heritage Preservation Trust building .This was  bujlt in 1918 as a Bank of New Zealand  branch  and sold  to the Otaki Borough Council in 1965.  However the building became vacant when the Borough  Council was abolished in 1989 when its  functions were  taken over by the newly established   Kapiti Coast District Council .

There is an abundance of Festivals and Markets in Otaki and the Small Producers Market  is no exception. Rain or shine, every Saturday between 9.00am - 12.00pm you can head down to the Small Producers market, there you will find food stalls which are centred round the La Casa Romana restaurant.