Auckland & Northland (New Zealand)

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city, situated at the top of the North Island with a population of around 1.5 million. This represents about 33% of the population of the whole country! Auckland is also supposedly the second largest urban sprawl in the world, after Los Angeles, which might give you an impression of the size.

The main city and suburbs cover an area of 60 square kilometres, with many of the suburbs having their own ...
...no real central area of Auckland like you would find in a typical English town or city. Each suburb has it's own characteristics and nightlife and are more like small towns within the city. There is a huge diversity in what goes on around the city, due to the number of travellers and long-staying foreigners in Auckland.

Luckily, (if you're useless with languages like myself) you'll be pleased to find that English is the main written ... more

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city, situated at the top of the North Island with a population of around 1.5 million. This represents about 33% of the population of the whole country! Auckland is also supposedly the second largest urban sprawl in the world, after Los Angeles, which might give you an impression of the size.

The main city and suburbs cover an area of 60 square kilometres, with many of the suburbs having their own unique character. In fact these suburbs are quite important, as, apart from the CBD, there is no real central area of Auckland like you would find in a typical English town or city. Each suburb has it's own characteristics and nightlife and are more like small towns within the city. There is a huge diversity in what goes on around the city, due to the number of travellers and long-staying foreigners in Auckland.

Luckily, (if you're useless with languages like myself) you'll be pleased to find that English is the main written and spoken language in the city, with Maori, Polynesian and Asian languages also being spoken by the ethnic communities. In fact, one of the strangest things I found when travelling around Auckland the first few times (certainly within the central areas) is that the majority of people you will see will be Asians rather than Caucasian or Maori / Islanders. This is due to the relative cheapness of NZ compared to the Asian countries and parents then send their young people to NZ where it is cheaper than their own homes.

The climate is temperate, with warm summers (averaging over 24 degrees) and cooler winters (averaging 16 degrees). The summer months are between December and March. In the time I've been here (the month of July) I've found that the days are warm enough to wear a T-shirt or a light jumper whilst the same can be worn at night with a jacket. The sun is quite strong, and a short, 20-min stroll during the afternoon can be enough to give you a touch of the sun, despite it being the middle of winter. Wearing sun protection on any sunny day is advisable.

The city is built on a narrow isthmus between two harbours: to the East, the Waitemata and to the West, the Manukau. The Waitemata is the main deep water shipping access, with extensive wharf facilities and the largest container port in the country and is right in the heart of the city. Water sports are a pastime enjoyed by a large number of Aucklanders and the city enjoys the reputation as being known as the 'City of Sails' due the number of yachts which sail in the harbours and the adjoining Hauraki Gulf. Each weekend, if the weather is agreeable, you won't believe the amount of water-based craft out and about, and the sea will be packed with boats, jet skis, windsurfers and other exotic water craft. If you go down to the Viaduct (where, handily there's a tourism information shop), you can see some of the huge yachts that take part in the Americas Cup race. PLus it's some to some excellent pubs - The Loaded Hog is great during the day (especially their wheat beer), and O'Hagans Irish Bar also come recommended.

Auckland is also regarded as the 'gateway' to the rest of New Zealand for tourism, with the country's largest airport serving most of the international air traffic along with domestic flights to the other main towns and cities. From November 1st 2002, Air New Zealand have slashed the prices of their internal flights due to pressure from the consumer groups which should enable easier and quicker travel within NZ.

The main tourist attractions within the city include the Auckland Museum which is home to one of the best Maori and Polynesian collections in the world, the Maritime Museum on the waterfront, Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World Aquarium, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki, the Museum of Transport and Technology, the Auckland Zoo, Cornwall Park and the many ferry and scenic harbour cruises which operate to the North Shore and islands of the Hauraki Gulf.

There are also a number of historic places and houses open for viewing. Fine views of the city can be obtained from the Sky Tower, Mt Eden and One Tree Hill (which was made famous by U2 on their Joshua Tree album). These are excellent places to catch the sunset on a beautiful sunny day as you can get the full view of the sun sinking over the city. The Sky Tower is one of the tallest buildings in the Southern hemisphere which can be seen from most places around the city. It contains a casino, bars, restaurants and (if you want) a free fall for your enjoyment.

The city of Auckland is the retail and commercial centre of New Zealand, with a number of head offices and businesses servicing commerce, manufacturing and tourism. Because it is the focal business centre for the region a large number of people commute daily into the city by bus, ferry, rail and private car. This has led to the air pollution in Auckland being quite severe, and respiratory diseases are common due to this pollution, and the fact that very few houses have central heating despite night-time temperatures being quite cold, and the fact a lot of houses can get very damp. Strangely, despite their attitude towards domestic central heating, you'll find pubs and cafés to be very comfortable and dry, many having powerful gas powered heaters. At the same time, the public transport system leaves a lot to be desired. Buses are excellent during the day, arriving at their intended stops practically to the second, but at nights, they can be very unreliable at night after the rush hour has died down.

Hotel and motel accommodation ranges from top class to budget and hostels (if you are asking for information regarding hostels, you'll find they're called "backpackers" in NZ) in price range of $45 - $250 per night. Although you can find the higher class places throughout Auckland, the backpackers tend to be located close to the centre of the city. Links to information regarding these are given below, and I found the PureNZ web site to be quite comprehensive for all areas of NZ.

The main shopping areas are downtown Queen Street, High Street, Parnell, Newmarket and the St Luke's mall. There are also a large number of shopping malls throughout the region so you're probably not too far from one, no matter where you're staying. What surprised me about the shopping over here was that, despite being a very large city, there were none of the big name international chains I was expecting to see like Gap, HMV, Tower Records, Next etc. However, apart from the usual fast food chains (McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Subway etc.) the shops are strangely unfamiliar. However, you can still buy some labels you'll recognise Levi's are a big thing, and surfer and outdoor gear is huge, so you'll be able to pick up your Quiksilver, Oakley O'Neill's etc.

Auckland is also a very green city. There are large amounts of parks / playing fields for playing sport, but there are also large open areas of grass called Domains throughout Auckland. There are also plenty of trees and shrubs growing around the city, which are looked after by Auckland council.

Depending on the exchange rate (a good rough guide is approximately NZ$3 to £1, although see below for a currency conversion website), you'll find that shopping is slightly cheaper than the U.K, although there aren't too much in the way of bargains unless you're really prepared to hunt.

Eating out and drinking is cheaper than the UK, with a bottle of beer or a spirit and mixer coming in around NZ$6 depending on where you drink. One word of warning to those of you with fragile stomachs: NZ beer is notoriously fizzy, and some people (i.e. me) have had to hunt out the flatter beers and ales because the bog standard of Steinlager (or any other locally brewed lager) can cause problems if you're not used to (or don't like) excessively fizzy beer. A good meal in one of the many cafes around the city will set you back somewhere between NZ$15 and NZ$25, and you'll find seafood on the menu a lot more than you would in the UK. (I think this is a good thing!) For those of you who like the odd tipple, you'll marvel at the sheer number of pubs in the city. Their opening hours mean that pubs generally open from 10:30 am and can remain open until 3 am, although most will close at any time after 9 pm if they consider business to be too slow.

As I've already said, the Aucklanders can be very friendly people and you can strike up many conversations quite easily. They are also big into fitness and mental strength so it's not uncommon to see people cycling or roller-blading into work! During the evening, especially in the suburbs, there will be many people out cycling, jogging, power walking and roller-blading. A quick glance into a book shop (I highly recommend Borders in Queen Street) will show you a plethora of self help books which are given very prominent placing and regularly gain positions in the best seller lists.

I really like this city. It took me a while to settle in, and I found it strange for a long time about the city have many little centres of activity rather than one in the middle. The people are friendly, and there's a real diversity wherever you go with lots to do which means it's difficult to get bored.

** Information Sites
http://www.purenz.com
http://www.aucklandnz.com
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/
http://www.hotcity.co.nz
http://www.gotoauckland.com/
http://www.auckland-airport.co.nz

** Maps
http://www.nzmaps.co.nz

** Currency Conversion
http://www.xe.com/ucc

** Time Zones
http://www.worldtimezone.com

** Phone Numbers
http://www.whitepages.co.nz
http://www.yellowpages.co.nz  

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