I've had so much fun here! For me, laser force kind of means a once a year event where I run around…read morein a heavy vest shooting my friends. I don't have much strategic sense so I'm not always the best team member but I do get pretty competitive and I like getting a rush of adrenalin. I wouldn't really be able to find any faults with Megazone. I love the set up, really good mazes with awesome lights and cool effects. The staff are really helpful and make sure we know what we're doing. I think specials are often offered especially during school holidays so it'd be wise to keep checking out the website to see what's coming up! Awesome birthday party venue or fun Friday night activity. obviously kids go wild over this kind of thing, but in my opinion... you're never too old!

One of the best benefits of having kids is getting to be a kid yourself and Megazone is a great…read moreplace to do just that. I never understand when parents don't partake in childish activities - we even had a boys' birthday party here where a dad went INSIDE the warzone to just stand and watch. If you have no idea what all this is about, laserstrike is the preferred birthday party choice of boys (and some girls) aged 7 to 12 and probably older - we're not there yet. You rally your troops, divide them into two teams, tool up and go to war. There's an instruction video and staff on hand to help you get into your harness-thing. The harness-thing has light targets for your enemy to see and of course your laser gun. You then go run around in the dark shooting each other and the team with the most points wins. Most excellent entertainment - especially getting those kids that are, let's say, not your favourites. So ring up, book your group and they'll give you a room where you can do the food and cake thing along with two 20 minute game sessions. Get pizzas delivered and it's simple and fairly affordable as far as these things go. Just make sure you join in - it's bloody good exercise and wicked fun.

Laserstrike! You can do it here. What else do I need to say? Only that's it crazy good fun, and if…read moreyou're not totally exhausted by the end of it from running up and down ramps, hiding from the other team, and ambushing your opponents, you're not playing it right. This is one of the more fun laserstrike places I've been to, because it's got two floors, plenty of hiding spots and full on ATTACK music. They also give you an extremely serious briefing, which is pretty funny considering what a dork you look like when you put on the harness. Try and get a couple of groups together, it's more fun when you know the people you are playing with and against, not to mention it being a pretty good way of finding out who is a take-no-prisoners, no-mercy type, (yes, it's always the quiet one) and who is a big scardy cat.

I won't even lie this place is absolutely fultht and disgusting. I don't even know where to begin…read morewith this place but ah my goodness it's yucky! If you want to enjoy your experience at this bowling place then you have to put hygiene and safety aside. First of all the lifts there smell like smoke, I can't imagine anyone smoking in a lift so I will leave the stench to the patrons of the bowling alley. Whatever the cause of the smell is, the owners of the place should make an effort to at least do a clean up once every week . Secondly the bowling shoes are rather old and smelly, once again cleaning and buying new shoes in something the owners should look into. Thirdly this place is dark and dingy. I wouldn't be surpr if any dubious happenings took place! Last but not least it is not a mistake if your bowl and then the cones don't come down. Seems like everything doesn't work or is just old.

It's dirty. Newmarket Tenpin Bowling is not for the faint-hearted - there are germs aplenty in this…read moreold building, up several flights of stairs in a weird smelling concrete enclosure. I mean, it's a bowling alley and it's got everything one needs to go bowling. It's not flash, and to reiterate - it is dirty. Know this before you go. That all being said, you know what? It can be kind of fun. There are pool tables and arcade games and sometimes the dodgems are going - you can play laser strike whilst riding those electric cars. I want to say 'drive by' but it doesn't seem appropriate - you get what I mean. Go up there with a group, forget about the germs, have a good time, have a few drinks and you'll be right as rain.

Want somewhere that you can come and bring your baby who is crawling, your toddler who is starting…read moreto walk or for your toddler/kid who needs to burn off some energy then this is the place to come. They have special areas for the smaller ones and other more exciting areas for the bigger more adventurous kids - even looks exciting to me I wouldn't mind sliding down the big air slide. There are also dress up areas next to the pretend house that has a bedroom and kitchen. They also have a small carousel and little cars for them to zoom around in . I wouldn't recommend this place for under 10 months old, but anything from 10 months is fine. This place is also pretty special to me as its where my baby took her first unsupported steps after she had been walking around pushing a little baby stroller. For under 1 year olds is free, but all adults have to pay but you get a cold or hot drink so its all worth it. Theres also plenty of parking and great meet up point for a coffee group.

This is such a fun place for little kids! They can (and do) go absolutely crazy and wild, and…read moresprint around with sweat actually dripping from their hair (I'm not even kidding, you should bring a towel, it's really gross) - totally focused on having with with the element of danger (from all the climbing and obstacles and other kids also sprinting around crashing into each other). So if you just think about the fact the kids are having a great time, it's all ok. But if you look a bit closer... well actually it's best not to. My main issues are that it's a bit dirty, like for example the ball pit is full of sticky balls that pick up all the dirt from the ground, and then little kids suck on them. Plus there's the whole sweat factor. Some of the toys and activities are getting pretty old now and could do with replacing. Added to this is the food issue - the whole place reeks of deep fried food because you can have birthday parties there and you get huge trolleys of every kind of fried food there is. When it all come out of the kitchen at once, the stench is overwhelming. Also, you are not supposed to bring your own food, so it is not ideal for children with allergies. (they may have changed this policy, I'm not sure). Parents are charged an entry fee. But you get a free drink.

When we arrived after a hard uphill walk from the harbor to learn that the Maori Court and Pacific…read moreExperience exhibits were closed for a multiyear renovation, and were told that a discounted price of $27! was being charged, we felt a bit ripped off. But there were a number of fine exhibits so we felt the visit was still worthwhile -- but a more substantial discount would very much be warranted

Known as the war memorial museum, this place was much more than that. I'm used to museums with a…read morespecific theme and this was a hodge podge museum, filled with quirky collections of indigenous, historical war, science and other miscellaneous items. I am quirky, so I really enjoyed my visit here. The first floor was about indigenous Māori history and other Polynesian islands. The second floor's theme was natural history and the third floor was war history (Māori, World wars) and memorial dedicated to those who served from New Zealand. I spent about three hours looking at all the exhibits and displays. In another lifetime, I worked at an aviation museum and I was astounded to find an intact Zero plane here. With less than twenty in existence, to actually see one in person with actual World War Two history was the highlight of my visit. The museum has two eateries that's pretty decent in price with nice sitting areas to enjoy. The gift shop had original items I didn't see anywhere else on my trip. The museum is free to NZ residents but visitors have to pay admission. It's worth it to pay and visit here atleast once in your lifetime.

OK everyone; here's the reason parties sometimes are a dud; it's not because you're a bad host or…read moreyour friends are dull; it's because the lighting isn't right. Mostly, it's too bright, but occasionally it's too dim and nobody can see who they're talking to. Too bright and people will want to get away from it. If you want to sort your party lighting out, go to Party Direct, where you can hire everything you might need, including a LIGHT UP DANCE FLOOR. Yes. Pretty exciting right? These guys are also super helpful; I needed to hire some lights urgently, and they not only gave me a great price, they also pulled stuff out in the middle of moving warehouses. That's impressive; I can imagine most people would have just said it was too much trouble.