Paeroa is just a half hour drive from Thames and as well as sporting the iconic giant L&P bottle it also has the mighty fine establishment The Refinery which would give some of the hipster haunts in Auckland a good run for their money. We stumbled across it on a lazy Sunday afternoon without the kids and loved what we found.

Once you have checked out the giant L&P bottle and got the obligatory photo…

L&P bottle, Paeroa

Your next stop will be to check out The Refinery…

Despite being a local of sorts this wasn’t one that James had heard about so we found this the old fashioned way by stumbling upon it. James and I visited on one of our days exploring without the kids and were pleasantly surprised by what we found.

Tucked in one road back from the main street this old warehouse is filled to the brim with funky, eclectic furniture and has records belting out funky tunes.

This place would be totally at home in Ponsonby’s main street with the hipster crowd and yet doesn’t seem out of place at all in Paeroa.

Food is very reasonable and tasty and with the selection of comfy chairs you are bound to want to stay for a while.

You will find them at 5 Willoughby St in Paeroa.