Meet another local beauty – Kaituna Valley. Nestled away between the many rolling hills on Banks Peninsula, this idyllic spot next to the Kaituna River is another family favourite for picnics.

A short walk from the picnic site where we enjoyed tea, biscuits and Christmas cake, is the gentle stream meandering through the majestic native bush.

We wheeled Charlie’s buggy down into the creek and he had fun splashing the shallow water with long sticks.

On the 30 minute drive back home, we stopped off at Kaituna Valley Orchards and bought a bucket of ripe peaches and a bucket of juicy nectarines – $3 a bucket, mm mmmm.