Orton Bradley Park — Attraction in Banks Peninsula Community

I'm really perplexed by all the 5 star ratings from other reviewers. We stayed there overnight in a tent. It's an ok place but it's very rundown and in dire need of some tender loving care! The ground in the tenting area is uneven (on a small slope) which necessitates which way we had to face our sleeping bags to get a comfortable night's sleep. And there's a number of things in the facility which just seem overlooked. There's nowhere to place toiletries down on a shelf in the showers except on hanging hooks, the toilets don't have mirrors, the kitchen area is dirty and old. When we had breakfast at the cafe, one of the forks was dirty with hard egg still on it. The paper menus are so old and faded I could hardly read the print of the menu items. The bacon was chewy and overcooked, and the meal was dripping in oil. Then I found out I couldn't pay for our meals using credit cards - only cash/cheque accounts only. The staff ask you to get your own forks and knives and serviettes, basically you have to set your own table. A number of tables were left with food on top where a number of pigeons were constantly picking and eating from it while the staff kept walking past without clearing the tables. And both the cafe and the gates close at 8pm, which means if you go down the road to have dinner somewhere else and come back at 8:30pm you're out of luck getting back into the park. In other words bring your own food unless you're happy to finish the dinner at the cafe by 8pm! Bizarre!!! We just found the place very rundown and not looked after nor is it...

Great scenery, beautiful spot with a lot of activity options. There's walks, a playground, camping spots at some times of year and a cafe. Around the cafe is some old machinery used on the farm back in the day. If you are interested, take the time to inspect the unassuming white shed close to the cafe with a water wheel on the side. It's got a bit of belt driven wood/metal working machinery in there.

Day trips: $5 per person to get in ($10 max per vehicle). The walks are great, fairly well maintained tracks with a range of walking distances. 'Big rock' is a nice short one with a fantastic view. The mountain bike tracks aren't anything to write home about but they're worth taking your bike along if you're camping or wanting something fairly easy.

Camping: Camping here is great. Fairly secluded away from the city while close enough for the odd shopping trip (or trip home if you live in Christchurch). There's good shade from the trees on hot days, and also shelter from the wind depending on where you camp. The facilities are pretty tidy. The toilets packed up once and they were pretty responsive about...

Great place for family camping, lovely new clean toilets and showers. Nice big areas for kids to run around. Good playground too but not toddler friendly, more for older kids. The only issue we had was the kitchen. It was said on the website that it was a full kitchen which we assumed meant it had pots for campers to use but it had nothing. No pots, pans, utensils for cooking, nothing at all. Didn't realize we also had to bring our own dish washing liquid and even cloths to wipe down benches. It was also pouring down with rain when we arrived and so setting up in the rain was hard and we all got soaking wet. We asked the ranger if we could eat our dinner in this large hall that was attached to the kitchen that also had chairs and tables to which he said no because of covid - which didn't make sense as there was way less than 100 people at the campsite as it was terrible weather and many people didn't show up. Overall it was a...