Love the facilities here. The grounds are clean and well maintained. The parents' area is within…read moresight of the playground. The staff are friendly and expertly proficient in providing food and beverages. My children love this place. This is my first time here as we normally go to "Jump", an indoor trampoline facility just up the road. The best thing about Bounce and Beyond is that unlike "Jump" there is no time limit. Your kids can run them selves up and down the huge inflatable slides until they pass out! Bonus!!! ;-) Busy time is Saturday and this is shown on the website. If you're keen on a quiet day, you're best to avoid busy times here with the screams of delight emanating from the scores of delighted children and the thrum of the motorised fans keeping the inflatable apparati inflated. I'm here at peak time right now and it's nothing to worry about. Great place, with a great atmosphere. There are party facilities available for hire as well as free parking nearby. There is also a gladiator ring where two combatants (child or adult) can bash each other with padded jousts, trying to knock their opponent of their raised dais. A whole lot of fun, for a reasonable price, for as long as you like! What could be better at energy sapping for your little terrors, I mean angels? Nothing is better than this place in the whole of Gods green earth. Love, love and love!

Matakana Country Park is a great place to take the kids; there is SO much for them to do. The…read moreanimal farm is always a winner (and if not an experience at least!). It's free entry and then for $3 you can buy a little bag of nibbles to feed the animals. There are sheep, goats, an emu, a very big pig and even llamas. There are also pony rides (so cute) and train rides. When they tire of the animals there's a large colourful playground complete with a giant Buzzy Bee, Nemo and a pirate ship. It can be pretty hard to pull them away from the playground, but you can always entice them off with a fluffy and piece of cake from the 'Speckled Hen Café' on site also.

I came here with my 3-year-old son, husband, and newborn for a play date with my son's little…read morefriend from his daycare center. We weren't sure what to expect from the experience, but arrived early in the morning (right around opening time) and we all had a blast! Just to be warned, when you are driving to the farm park, the road gets smaller and smaller and you start to wonder if you are going in the right direction. You are. Occasionally, there are additional signs along the road that let you know you are still heading in the right direction. To start out, each family purchased some animal food, which came with a scoop for feeding the bigger animals. Included in the menagerie were: chickens, ducks, pheasants, cows, goats, emu, llamas, ponies, alpacas and sheep. The young ones loved feeding the animals and the grown-ups thought it was pretty cool, too. What I really loved (besides the animals) was that there were several play areas scattered around that gave the boys tons of opportunity to get out their energy and use their imaginations. For example, there was a "construction pit," with dirt, built in diggers and the like. There was a large sculpture of a helicopter that they could sit inside. There was also a large sculpture airplane. We brought a picnic lunch and ate on the tables outside the back of the office area. There were lovely views of the surrounding area. I would highly, highly recommend this place if you have small children - it was a great day out.

Kids go absolutely crazy for this place. It's like what catnip is to cats. The host a lot of kids…read moreBirthday parties here so by the time the kids have gorged themselves on the fried food and sugar provided, they run around like wild things for a couple of hours, and then they are so exhausted once they get home they promptly fall asleep. Effective. I took my cousins kids here ONCE a couple of months ago and they are still pestering me to take them back again. While it may seem apparently simple to let the kids enjoy the facilities while you kick back and enjoy a coffee in the on site cafe the sound of screaming children multiplied by like 50 is enough to put paid to any ideas of relaxing, that might just be me however.

Definitely agree with the other reviews! Took my 11 month old daughter and 6 year old niece and…read morestepson over the weekend and we spent about 1.5 hours there and they were absolutely pooped afterwards! However the hygiene of the place is something I cringe about. My daughter ended up getting hand foot and mouth disease from here!!! So if you are going to take your kids, take your sanitisers and keep an eye on your little ones (she did play in the ball pit and caught her with a ball in her mouth). Be very prepared for your kiddies to catch a sickness after being here -_-

I enrolled my son in the closest Jumping Beans class to our home, and am so happy for the…read moreconfidence and skills he has gained. Jumping beans is a fun gymnasium type class with trampolines, swings, beams,climbing ladders, tunnels, and bowl spinners that captivate the little minds of any pre preschooler. I was really curious after seeing the Jumping Beans sign on the main road off Church street and had an impression of kids dressed as beans jumping around the room. After some research, and a decision to join my sister in law and her baby toddler we signed up and paid the 9 week enrollment fee for our littlies to be active and explore through activity. The class teachers Chris, Jackie and Debbie are a fantastic bunch of tuned in well qualified jumping beans instructors, and I put 100% trust in the programme. Not only do the classes give our children social confidence but they learn to use their clever minds and perform active tasks. My boy is thrilled every Thursday when it's time for class and I surely see the best results.

Gym choices in the Warkworth/Matakana region were rather slim until recently, particularly if…read moreyou're after group fitness. But then along came the Circuit Room, a brand new facility at Matakana Country Park. It is just one room, but it's large and airy. The floors are wooden and windows open right out to let that fresh country air in! The focus is on group exercise with a brilliant timetable of Les Mills classes. The trainers are awesome; friendly and relaxed but they still kick your ass! 'Pump' is my choice of punishment, and having been to pump classes all over the world I can honestly say the guys at the Circuit room are some of the best. The equipment is all shiny and new and there's plenty to go around (no fighting over mats!). There is also an equipment circuit that can be used at any time, and they do children's dance classes. Perhaps the only down side is the cost; $15 per class (casual rate) but there are concessions and memberships available. It's definitely worth a look though; we're lucky to have such an impressive facility in little Matakana

I've always been a fan of mobile farms. As a child the best birthday parties, in my opinion, were…read morealways those where Ronald MacDonald mobile farms and pony rides were the central focus. Even as an adult, my love of these mobile farms has remained intact. A few weeks ago there was a Market Day in Ponsonby, and in the front of the Pumpkin Patch store on Ponsonby Road was Farmer Paul and his mobile pets. I was ecstatic. An enclosure had been erected in the store and there was literally about 30 or 40 animals in it. Rabbits, guinea pigs and rat everywhere! And, one of the rabbits was enormous. Bonnie, the Flemish giant rabbit was super cuddly and you had to hold her like a baby she was so heavy! Farmer Paul himself was a classic 'kiwi bloke' - hat, singlet, stubbies and gumboots, and he and his partner Tracey were great with both the animals and the kids who happily crowded around the enclosure and petted the animals. I would recommend Farmer Paul and his Mobile Pets and Pony Rides not only for littlies birthday parties, but also school fairs and community markets. The whole experience was brilliant!

When my sister and I arrived at Enchanted Forest Mini Golf a few weekends ago, we were wowed! From…read morethe range of holes and facilities, to the friendly owner who was very helpful and chatted to all of his customers. This was really great considering I haven't received this kind of service at other mini golf places around Auckland. We really enjoyed the variety of holes. Sounds weird I know but Enchanted Forest Mini Golf seriously has two of the coolest holes we have ever seen! The first one you have to hit your golf ball through chains - it sounds harder than you think! The second hole was unique for sure. The hole is completely surrounded by netting. The aim is to hit your ball as hard as you can (it sits on a raised platform), and if possible, hit the bullseye up top, ultimately to get a 'hole in one'. Again, it is harder than you think, but it is loads of fun! Plus, all the kids around us really enjoyed it! Another highlight is that the space around the mini golf course is very large! There is a shop where you purchase your tickets and other things like cold drinks and ice creams. There are also plenty of tables and chairs, plus you can use their BBQ's located onsite (free to use if you play one round of mini golf). This would be perfect for a birthday party or family gathering. An added bonus is that there is a Countdown right next door - easy to stock up on food beforehand! I guess the only negative would be that it is a little rough around the edges but it definitely feels like you're in a forest (or bush!). Interesting fact - the space used to be a park, and instead of removing everything, they have kept all the original trees and plants which is nice to see - we even saw a Kauri tree! Overall, Enchanted Forest Mini Golf is the best I have tried in Auckland so far. The added bonuses (unique 'net' hole, BBQ's, supermarket next door and location) really make this mini golf worth going to, not just to play a few games, but also to get a group of family and friends along and have a BBQ lunch or dinner afterwards!

From the owner: Our 18 hole Mini Golf course is built inside a park and comes complete with mature trees and…read moregardens that provide privacy, shade and tons of fun! With 18 international length holes and a course designed and built by a golfer - for golfers, we provide a genuine challenge and fun for all ages. We are focused on the children's fun, but with one eye on the "big kid's" entertainment too. With a selection of piped music around the grounds, native birdsong and park atmosphere the Enchanted Forest is relaxing and fun for the grown-ups too, with charm, character and a beautiful setting. If you think you know this course, then think again! We have some exciting changes underway, with a huge tidy up and re-planting programme, the roll out of a course make-over and a coffee bar on the way. With free use of our picnic tables and BBQ's, our aim is to ensure that everyone has a fun and a relaxing day Enchanted Forest style - for a great price.

I love Camp Adair and now so do both my kids. I used to go for a week during the school holidays…read moresome 30ish years ago (lordy how that dates me!) and it was one of the best things I did in my childhood. It was scary and fun and totally out of my comfort zone and looking back that was exactly the kind of thing I should have been doing more of. My son was recently there for his Year 6 camp and it was everything I remembered and more - somehow exactly the same but maintained. Just like me yeah : ) The cabins are completely basic but you would not believe how exciting a room of bunk beds can be to a child. The ablution block is a bit rough but does the job and the dining room and dishwashing area unchanged. The setting is beautiful and the activities are out of this world cool-ness. Day One and we were straight into the mud-pit that was the confidence course. Literally head to toe mud and swimming in mudpools. There's a huge number of terrifying things involving heights, a wicked flying fox and lots of entertaining team building activities. And then there's the waterslide - the biggest bumpiest most excellent zoomslide you ever saw going down the side of a hill into a lovely brown swimming hole. There's a pump to keep it slick and my saddest moment here was realising my back was not up to me hooning down it. I hate getting older. Camp Adair still runs holiday camps in the school holidays and I can't recommend it enough for building confidence in children of all temperaments. All meals are provided and the independence does them the world of good. Most importantly, there's a lovely family vibe about this place and the instructors are fantastic - part teacher, part friend, part psychologist, they do an amazing job and the kids love them. Awesome place.