New Brighton Good Life Guide: Elisha Blogg

This place is such a wonderland for kids. We often take our daughter and her friends here; they have fun exploring through this playground in the forest. Members of the community are often working here to add new parts to the space (including plans for a Pirate Ship), and it’s ever-evolving. There is a tonne of shade for hot days and multiple places to sit and have picnics. In the Spring, the small blossom trees are filled with Monarch butterflies, which are so beautiful to watch. Such a fantastic space and we often find we are the only ones there!

Since our son Ned was born, we haven’t done this enough. Walking along the dune track can basically take you all the way along the huge stretch of beach. There are many paths to follow to areas where you can perch up with a flask of hot tea, sheltered out of the wind. We get pleasure sitting nestled in there and watching people on the beach walking in and out of the frame of the tussocks. You just need to stick to paths as much as possible to ensure the incredible dunes have the best luck of surviving. 

I love going for a walk or run around Ōruapaeroa-Travis Wetland. The path takes you on gravel as well as a stretch of boardwalk, and you feel like you are far away from civilisation while looking across the wetlands and going to the hills. We often bring the kids down there and try to get the eerie eels to surface from the water and enjoy (or not enjoy) an encounter with a giant swan. 

The fabulous team is in their wee coffee shed 365 days a year, rain, hail or shine, serving the best brews. This simple coffee shed is such an integral part of many people’s daily routines and a fantastic community gathering spot. Always served with a good natter and a smile, I love to grab a coffee, pat a selection of dogs and enjoy watching the waves at the beach—such a great community vibe. 

Located at The Bridge Hub South Brighton is Dune Cafe. This place is often packed with locals and others enjoying a brew and the tasty treats of the kitchen. Beautiful cakes and other sweet treats displayed on the countertop are baked daily and often all gone by lunchtime. The crew is super lovely, and it has a nice fenced-in courtyard out front where you can safely let your little ones play while you enjoy the sunshine. You can also check out the art and regular events happening right next door in the hall at The Bridge Hub. 

I love that we have a library that looks out to the surf! This is such an excellent free resource for anyone who chooses to use it to read, work, or just ponder life. I remember spending time in this library with extra study help as a teenager, and I love it now when I get the opportunity to set up my laptop there and work or bring my kids to choose books while I gaze out to the ocean. 

We are lucky that Taiora QEII is over our back fence. I am even more fortunate that I often get a Saturday lie-in, and my partner takes the kids to the pool! There is a wonderful kids' space as well as a lane pool, hydrotherapy pool, and spa for adults, and the gym looks out over the hills, which, when I was a member, helped get me there. We also like that the grass area has been used for multiple outdoor gigs over the summer, including an incredible night watching Groove Armada, an awesome alternative to Hagley Park.

We discovered this tiny Indian restaurant way back when we first landed in New Brighton, and swear it’s the best in Ōtautahi. The flavours of every dish we have tried are incredible, and the garlic paratha is the best to soak it all up. Always greeted by the gorgeous family that owns this place, we can’t recommend it highly enough and love that it is a hidden gem within the Surfside Mall. 

This is a place where you can immerse yourself in the tall trees to feel completely isolated. I enjoy walking through the trees and out to the beach to meet up with the coastal pathway. Our daughter, Nara, also likes visiting the ever-growing fairy house village and checking all the doors. 

New Brighton is chocka full with a calendar of events throughout the year, which is great for us when you don’t have to travel far at all. Kite Day, Matariki, Duke Festival, Good Vibes Mākete, the Coast to Coast, several great wee events on Carnaby Lane throughout the year, live music events at QE2…. and we even have our own New Brighton Pirates and Fairies running regular events for the kids which tops off the incredible quirk of the east! 

We often bike from our place down to the Ōtākaro at the end of Bower Ave and onto the river track. From here, you can bike all the way along the edge of the estuary and then to the pier and the Pleasant Point Yacht Club. We have just started putting Ned in the bike trailer with his big sister, and he loves it, so we will be doing this ride a lot more frequently again soon.