The call to Kiwis to get out and explore their own country seems to have worked, with Matakana experiencing a busy school holiday period, despite some bad weather.

In the post-Covid climate, many businesses have been worried about what the future may bring. However, over the mid-year school holidays many saw business as usual, with some operators being even busier than in previous years.

The village during a winter morning

The Bach Matakana had a much busier year than last. Owner Sophie said, “After speaking with a lot of my customers, it's very clear that holidays to popular overseas destinations such as Bali, Fiji and Rarotonga have all obviously been cancelled, and so Matakana was where they all came.” Matakana has a reputation for being one of the best day trips from Auckland, and with international travel out of the picture, a lot of people are exploring this. 

Kiwiness Tours also saw a huge increase from last year, hosting Kiwis on tours around the Matakana Coast. 

Matakana Butchers are getting busier and busier every year and loved seeing families pull up in their camper vans to stock up for some great New Zealand adventures. 

Last year was the second warmest July on record, with below normal rainfall, while this year we have seen storms and cold snaps. However, that doesn’t seem to have deterred people from coming and seeing what our beautiful little area has to offer.