Hon. John Key opens Kumeu Visitor Information Centre

On Friday 16 October 2009, a group of American and Canadian tourists from the luxury Cruise Liner Star Princess, and travelling on the Auckland tours Coast to Coast Eco-tour, attended the official opening of the new Kumeu Visitor Information Centre by the Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism, John Key.
In his speech, the Prime Minister spoke of the importance of tourism to the New Zealand economy, and how fitting it was to have some overseas visitors there at the opening. The date of the Centre’s official launch just happened to coincide with the arrival of the Star Princess in Auckland, and a group were on the ‘Coast to Coast Eco-tour’ shore excursion hosted by owner’s Donna and Stuart Hamilton. As Stuart is Treasurer of the Visitor Centre, and was required to meet the Prime Minister on arrival, the tour group had to attend as well, as neither event could be cancelled.
The Kumeu Visitor Centre had humble beginnings many years ago in Huapai (close to Kumeu). Staffed by volunteers and occupying a small tin shed adjacent to the local garden nursery, resulted in this centre never able to achieve an i-SITE status. More recently, it shifted onto the opposite side of the road into a building with United Travel. Even though this move was to a better building, it was unfortunate that it was not in the correct position for vehicles travelling north. When the latest location became available, the Kumeu Coast and Country committee unanimously agreed to shift. A lot of these recent achievements have been made possible by the Visitor Centre Manager Bernadette Limbrick.
Funded by Rodney District Council, the Kumeu Visitor Centre is well on the way to becoming an i-SITE and when this is achieved it will be the only i-SITE in the west Auckland area, and currently the only Information Centre in New Zealand which has been officially opened by a Prime Minister.
With being just 30 minutes from downtown, the west Auckland area (of Rodney), is rapidly becoming Auckland’s playground. Historic wineries, mountain biking in the Woodhill forest, Muriwai beach with its black iron sands and famous sea-bird colony, cafes, bed and breakfasts and wedding venues, all cater for the many visitors.
The locally owned and operated tour of ‘Coast to Coast Eco-tours’ is an ideal way in which to explore this west Auckland region. Established in 2002, this tour has been rated Auckland’s No1 activity on the Tripadvisor review website since May ‘08. Hosts Donna and Stuart also incorporate their sheep farm & Homestead, along with their unique-to-Auckland Native tree planting to offset carbon emissions. Sharing personal experiences and stories of this region where their family has lived since 1922, ‘Coast to Coast Eco-tours’ caters for smaller sized, more personal shore excursions, compared to the regular tours offered by the Cruiselines.
Visit 'TripWoW' for the slideshow on this Auckland Shore Excursion tour.