Continuing in our series of What Kiwis Say About New Zealand, a lighthearted look at what Kiwis really think about New Zealand, and a great chance to have a look at the country as they see it.
This one starts with a fairly simple dilemma that a lot of families are faced with – what to do as a family on NYE. You’d think the solution would be straightforward in a country that’s “so great for kids,” where “they can be kids for longer” … wouldn’t you?
This question was asked on the Trademe forum, an online community for Kiwis:
HB “Does anyone know if theres some kind of family friendly place to go on new years eve in tauranga? Like a mardigra etc. Im sooo godamm bored.. and want to take my girls out on new yrs eve!! Anywhere except the mount lol”
Depending on how well you know New Zealand some of the following answers may surprise you – especially the comments about violent teenagers, who obviously didn’t “stay children” for long.
Drunken violence among teens ruined a family Christmas carol service in Christchurch recently and culminated in a 15 year old being stabbed in the face. It’s not surprising that parents in other towns are feeling extremely wary of taking their children to public events at this time of year.
These are some of the answers that HB got:
AJ “Buy some fish & chips, then go to any nice beach. Maketu has a lovely beach.”
HB “ive pretty much done that everyday for 2 wks lol..my girls are 13, that would be a tad unexciting for them im afraid..”
K “yeah the mount is kind of it for organised new years round here…and ive only ever been once on a new years for about 1/2 an hour !!been here most my life! ummm ummm ummm…exciting….*blank*
S “its realy difficult to take children out without drunken yobs ruining it. got nowhwere to suggest sorry; try ringing the information centre at mount and tauruanga tomorrow; there maybe something around for the age group. good luck.
HB “yeh i dont fancy my girls around that scene at Mount as they’re way to young. And Im over sitting on a beach with just teh 3 of us, that’s getting stale lol.”
AJ “Yep @ 13, Maketu for F&C would be Lame!…Much. The Mount has cleaned up their act as far as the drunkin’ louts go. It is way more family friendly. An idea is out at papamoa Blow carts, they have lazer tag etc there now too.(trying to think of different things here).
NZ “Not last year. Was just packed out with drunken teenagers… a lot laying in the gutter… I took my kids and went with my sister and her husband as we’d heard the same – if anything, it was far worse than when I was a teenager going to the Mt on nys. Anywho… my gf and a few others are going to a wee bar/restaurant that’s open late, not in the city centre… a few drinks… some laughs… and then home at a reasonable hour or I will fall asleep. 😛
….
AJ “I know how you feel HB, I am a mum on my own, it is hard finding things/places to take kids to on NY eve or the holidays, that are 1. Safe. 2. Family Friendly…& 3. Don’t cost a fortune(specially with teenagers!) another idea, I just thought of was…I took my miss 10+ out to Maketu, to Briars Horse Treks!…Miss 10 loved it & wants to go back! she had a great ride for her 45mins+ it cost me $25, but I got some great photo’s! (I cannot ride as I am disabled, my hips & spine are shot) but maybe you can all go together? google briarshorsetreks.co.nz
HB “Oh cool i shall google that for sure as my girls have never been on a horse ever.. I am finding it lonely as just moved to waitangi and only know 2 pple here so far lmao.. All i do all day long is bake and sit on a beach . Im looking forward to going back to tech in feb.
E2NZ.org 
and good wil to all
well not to worrie now its too wet to go out so heading down the rain bar for family meal with kids and some of our friends with kids then back to one our lovly homes for lots of family games followed with a bit of karioki and when kids all tucked up in beds and airbeds more dancing and drinking to the new year you make your own fun happy new year 🙂
There may be drunken yobs ruining things for families in both places. The problem is that people are led to come to New Zealand to avoid that. To live a better, more “family friendly” life. But all they end up doing is adding remoteness and higher cost of living, among other things such as anti-Pom sentiment, to what they are already used to.
It’s worrisome that on the Tauranga beaches the only people watching for safety are the lifeguards. There are no policemen there.
It certainly was remarkable watching a young man brandish a machete in front of beachgoers when I was there. It may have been a surprise of some sort; the people seemed to want to get away.
Ok let’s not, yours is a spurious argument based on invalid parameters.
Comparing Tauranga with any other place in the world doesn’t make an iota of difference to what’s going on in Tauranga at any given time.
It doesn’t help parents fearing for their children’s safety to know that somewhere else in the world is having problems too.
ok lets compare Crawley, Sussex with Tauranga, (both pop +/- 100000) and remove 80% of the surrounding populations to try to get down to scale with the NZ density. Now tell me what you would do in Crawley on NYE assuming that you equate the seasons (making NYE in summer in Crawley). Drunken kids wandering around town spewing, fighting, and stabbing much? Drunken adults drinking pint after pint in pubs then fighting? Hmm yes thought so.