Look­ing for some­thing to do with all these loooong, sunny days we’re hav­ing? Let me recom­mend a trip to the South­ward Car Museum, just north of Par­a­pa­raumu.

Driv­ing into the car­park you feel like you’ve spent back in time – to the 1960s. The build­ing is fant­ast­ic, a large con­crete bunker. The grounds are care­fully man­i­cured, with beds of marigolds. Take your old Tup­per­ware pic­nic set and relive a sim­pler time.

Walk­ing in, there is a 1960s Fer­rari on a rotat­ing plinthe, and a gor­geous Mer­cedes sports car. You can­’t help but play “which car would you take home” – except by the time you leave it is “which dozen cars, planes, and bikes would you take home”.

Entry is $10 for adults, $3 for chil­dren (5–15), and pre-school­ers are free.