Auckland Region
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© Lonely Planet Publications 96 lonelyplanet.com 97 AUCKLAND REGION Auckland Region AUCKLAND REGION Paris may be the city of love, but Auckland is the city of many lovers, according to its Maori name, Tamaki Makaurau. In fact, her lovers so desired this beautiful place that they fought over her for centuries. It’s hard to imagine a more geographically blessed city. Its two magnificent harbours frame a narrow isthmus punctuated by volcanic cones and surrounded by fertile farmland. From any of its numerous vantage points you’ll be astounded at how close the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean come to kissing and forming a new island. As a result, water’s never far away – whether it’s the ruggedly beautiful west-coast surf beaches or the glistening Hauraki Gulf with its myriad islands. The 135,000 pleasure crafts filling Auckland’s marinas have lent the city its most durable nickname: the ‘City of Sails’. Within an hour’s drive from the high-rise heart of the city are dense tracts of rainforest, thermal springs, deserted beaches, wineries and wildlife reserves. Yet big-city comforts have spread to all corners of the Auckland Region: a decent coffee or chardonnay is usually close at hand. Yet the rest of the country loves to hate it, tut-tutting about its traffic snarls and the supposed self-obsession of the quarter of the country’s population that call it home. With its many riches, Auckland can justifiably respond to its detractors, ‘Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful’. HIGHLIGHTS Going with the flows, exploring Auckland’s fascinating volcanic field ( p102 ) Getting back to nature on the island sanctu- aries of the beautiful Hauraki Gulf ( p133 ) Being awed by the Maori taonga (treasures) of the Auckland Museum ( p102 ) Goat Island Going west to the mystical and treacherous Marine Reserve black sands of Karekare ( p146 ) and Piha ( p146 ) Swimming with the fishes at Goat Island Hauraki Gulf Marine Reserve ( p153 ) Ponsonby Waiheke Island Schlepping around world-class wineries and Western Springs Park Auckland Museum beaches on Waiheke Island ( p135 ) Kingsland Piha Auckland Buzzing around the cafés and bars of Kings- Karekare Volcanic Field land ( p124 ) and Ponsonby ( p124 ) Soaking up the ’Nesian vibe at Pasifika Festival ( p116 ), held in March at Western Springs Park TELEPHONE CODE: 09 www.aucklandnz.com www.arc.govt.nz 98 AUCKLAND lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com AUCKLAND •• History 99 AUCKLAND REGION 0 20 km NZ’s cities. A sizable Asian community rubs AUCKLAND REGION 0 12 miles shoulders with the biggest Polynesian popula- AUCKLAND REGION FACTS Port Albert To Whangarei Goat Island (54km) Pakiri Leigh Marine Reserve tion of any city in the world. Eat Multiculturally, at one of the city’s numerous Wellsford Totora Park To Great & Little Barrier Islands The traditional Kiwi aspiration for a free- food halls ( p122 ) Scenic Reserve Omaha Beach standing house on a quarter-acre section has Pouto Dome Matakana Drink Forest Tawharanui Waiheke Island rosé on a hot summer’s day Kaipara Sheepworld resulted in a vast, sprawling city. The CBD AUCKLAND REGION Regional Park Lighthouse Warkworth Sandspit Read Nights in the Gardens of Spain (1995), where North Honey Centre ὈKawau Island was long ago abandoned to commerce, and Head acclaimed author Witi Ihimaera shifts his attention Scandrett Ransom Regional Park inner-city apartment living has only just South Kaipara Wines from East Coast Maoridom to Auckland’s gay scene Harbour Mahurangi Head Cape Colville started to catch on. While geography has ᝲᝲᝲ16 1 Harbour Listen to ‘A Brief Reflection’ (2002) by Nesian Port Jackson Lake Moturoa Island been kind, city planning has been less so. Ototoa Puhoi Mystik Shelley Mahurangi Unbridled and ill-conceived development Watch Sione’s Wedding (2006), Chris Graham’s Beach Waiwera Regional Park has left the centre of the city with some ar- Orewa comedy set in Grey Lynn and central Auckland Aquatic Park Tiritiri Matangi chitectural embarrassments. To get under ᝲᝲᝲParakai Springs ὈRed Beach ὈὈ Swim at Onetangi ( p135 ) Island Waitoki Silverdale Shakespear Auckland’s skin you’re best to head for the Parkhurst Festival Pasifika Festival ( p116 ) Rangitira Whangaparaoa Regional Park Hauraki Gulf Beach Parakai North Shore Aerodrome rows of Victorian and Edwardian villas in its Dairy Flat Tackiest tourist attraction Sky City ( p107 ) Te Pua Helensville Okura Long hip inner-city suburbs. Long Bay Bay See Rangitoto & Go green Encounter endangered birds amongst Woodhill Browns Bay Motutapu Islands 16 Hunting Browns Map (p134) See Waiheke Island ᝲᝲᝲForest Lodge Restaurant Coatsville Bay Map (p136) the regenerated forest of Tiritiri Matangi Island Woodhill Albany Motutapu Riverhead Milford Island Waimauku Beach HISTORY ( p139 ) Kumeu 1 Palm Huapai Rangitoto Oneroa Beach Maori occupation in the Auckland area dates Coopers Soljans WineryὈLake Island Onetangi Kumeu Creek River 18 Pupuke Waiheke Island Pakatoa Island back around 800 years. Initial settlements Muriwai Beach Muriwai Waitemata Devonport Motuihe Rotoroa Island ᝲᝲᝲBeach Waitakere Harbour AUCKLAND Island were concentrated on the coastal regions of ORIENTATION Swanson 16 Half Moon Howick Tamaki Strait Ponui the Hauraki Gulf islands, but gradually the Auckland is a conurbation formed from four Te Henga Bay Wharf Golf Course Maraetai Island Te Henga (Bethells Beach) (Bethells Beach) fertile isthmus beckoned and land was cleared main urban municipalities. Auckland City Anawhata Beach Waiatarua Scenic Dr Onehunga See Auckland Titirangi Map (p100) Pakihi Island Piha for growing food. proper includes the central isthmus and Gulf Piha Beach Waitakere Arataki Whitford Visitors Mangere Kawakawa Bay Karekare Ranges Orere Point Over hundreds of years Tamaki’s many islands. The others are Waitakere City (west), Regional Laingholm Centre Papatoetoe ὈὈKarekare Beach Huia Brookby Orere Park Clevedon different tribes wrestled for control of the North Shore City and Manukau (south). Cornwallis Matingarahi Little Huia Manurewa Cosseys Hunua Ranges Manukau Reservoir Regional Park area, building pa (fortified villages) on The Auckland isthmus runs roughly west– Whatipu Beach Whatipu Harbour Takanini Firth of east, with Waitemata Harbour lying to the Grahams Beach Papakura Upper Mangatangi Thames the numerous volcanic cones. The Ngati Awhitu Reservoir north (feeding into the Hauraki Gulf) and Hunua Mangatangi Whatua iwi (tribe) from the Kaipara Harbour Matakawau Clarks Drury Wairoa Reservoir Kaiaua Manukau Harbour to the south (feeding into Beach 22 Reservoir took the upper hand in 1741, occupying the Pollock 1 Paparimu major pa sites. During the Musket Wars the Tasman Sea). The Harbour Bridge links T A S M A N Ararimu ὈὈ Patumahoe ὈὈMangatawhiri the city to the North Shore, with the CBD of the 1820s they were decimated by the S E A Glenbrook Bombay Forest Park Miranda Waipipi Pukekohe To Thames northern tribe Ngapuhi, leaving the land all to its east. Mangatangi (30km) Puni Mercer The commercial heart of the city is Queen Pokeno Airfield Waitakaruru but abandoned. Taurangaruru Waiuku 2 r To Tauranga e Tuakau At the time of the signing of the Treaty St, which runs from the waterfront up to v Kopoku Maramarua (110km) Aka Aka i R Mercer Otaua Mangatarata Newton’s Karangahape Rd (K Rd), a lively, Meremere To Hamilton of Waitangi in 1840, Governor Hobson had Waikato Pukekawa (64km) 27 his base at Okiato, near Russell in the Bay of bohemian, sometimes gritty strip of inexpen- ὈὈ Islands. When Ngati Whatua chief Te Kawau sive restaurants and boisterous bars. Climate offered 3000 acres of land for sale on the In the early days, the area immediately MAORI NZ: AUCKLAND REGION Auckland has a mild climate, with the oc- northern edge of the Waitemata Harbour, east of the city tended to be upmarket and Evidence of Maori occupation is literally casional frost in winter and high humidity in Hobson decided to create a new capital, nam- Anglican, while the west was more Catholic carved into Auckland’s volcanic cones summer. Summer months have an average of ing it after one of his patrons, George Eden andf working-class. While they’re all rather ( p102 ). The dominant iwi (tribe) of the eight days of rain, but the weather is famously (Earl of Auckland). pricey neighbourhoods nowadays, Parnell isthmus was Ngati Whatua, but these days fickle, with ‘four seasons in a day’ possible at Beginning with just a few tents on a beach, and Remuera retain vestiges of old-money there are Maori from almost all NZ’s iwi liv- any time of the year. the settlement quickly grew, and soon the snobbery while Ponsonby and Grey Lynn ing here, sometimes collectively known as port was kept busy exporting the region’s are slightly more alternative. Mt Eden sits Ngati Akarana, or the Auckland Tribe. produce, including kauri timber. However, somewhere between the two, both physically For a first taste of Maori culture, start at AUCKLAND it lost its capital status to Wellington after and sociologically. Auckland Museum ( p102 ), where there’s a just 25 years. The airport is 23km south of the city wonderful Maori collection and a culture pop 1.2 million Since the beginning of the 20th century centre. show. For a more personalised experience, Auckland’s a city of volcanoes, with the ridges Auckland has been NZ’s fastest-growing city take either Potiki Adventures’ Urban Maori of lava flows forming its main thoroughfares and its main industrial centre. Political deals Maps tour ( p116 ) or Ngati Whatua’s Tamaki Hikoi and its many cones providing islands of green may be done in Wellington, but Auckland Auckland Map Centre (Map pp104-5 ; x09-309 7725; ( p116 ). within the sea of suburbs. As well as being by is the big smoke in the land of the long www.aucklandmapcentre.co.nz; 209 Queen St; h9am- far the largest, it’s the most multicultural of white cloud.