NEW ZEALAND 2

27/12/08

Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city and its largest port. It occupies a narrow isthmus between Waitemata Harbour (in the east) and Manukau Harbour (in the southwest). It was established in 1840 by Governor William Hobson as the capital of the colonial government and was named for George Eden, earl of Auckland, British first lord of the Admiralty and later governor-general of India. It was incorporated as a borough in 1851 and remained the capital until superseded by the city of Wellington in 1865. It was made a city in 1871. The most extensive urban area in New Zealand, Auckland also has the country's greatest concentration of indigenous Maori and has large numbers of Polynesians from other islands in the South Pacific. The population of the greater urban area is about 1.2 million people.

The city is a focal point of road and rail transportation, with the urban area being also served by New Zealand’s leading international airport, at Mangere. Auckland’s most important feature is Waitemata Harbour, a 180-square-km body of water that has maximum channel depths of 10 metres and serves overseas and intercoastal shipping. The port’s principal exports include iron, steel, dairy products, and meat and hides. Petroleum, iron and steel products, sugar, wheat, and phosphates are imported. Other industries of the Auckland area include engineering, publishing, and metal trades; the manufacture of paint, glass, plastics, chemicals, cement, and a variety of consumer goods; vehicle assembly and boatbuilding; and food processing, brewing, and sugar refining. A large iron and steel mill was opened at Glenbrook (32 km south) in 1969. The Auckland Harbour Bridge (1959) links the city with the rapidly growing, primarily residential North Shore suburbs and with Devonport, the chief naval base and dockyard for New Zealand. Construction of a natural-gas pipeline running from the Maui field to Auckland was completed in 1977.

Major institutions within the urban area include the War Memorial Museum, the Museum of Transport and Technology, the National Maritime Museum, the Auckland Art Gallery, the public library network, the University of Auckland (1957; from 1882 to 1957, Auckland University College, a constituent part of the University of New Zealand), the town hall, and several teacher-training colleges. Also in the locality are swimming and surfing beaches, several extinct volcanic cones, golf courses, sporting grounds, and parks and reserves. In 2000 and 2003 Auckland played host to the America’s Cup yachting race finals, both events helping to boost tourism in the region.

We wandered around the City today and took in some of the sights. Queen Street is the main street and the main shopping area within the CBD. A couple of noteworthy arcades off this street are the Queen’s Arcade and the Strand Arcade, the former better than the latter. Towards the north one finds the Victorian town hall with its distinctive clock tower. Next tot his is the Aotea Square and directly across the square is the Metro centre with its cinema complex and restaurants, cafés, bars and shops.

Albert Park is the major park within the city precinct and this is a typical Victorian park laid out in imitation of the great parks of Great Britain, with its lawns, majestic northern hemisphere trees, statuary, fountains and formal flower beds. The elaborate Victorian fountain is a central feature of the park and nearby is the statue of Queen Victoria which was unveiled in 1899 to mark the sixtieth jubilee of her reign. Adjacent to the park are the lovely old Law Courts, another Victorian building in the grand style. One may then walk towards Chancery St where there is a pedestrian shopping mall with restaurants, cafés and specialty boutiques. Further on, Vulcan Lane takes one back to Queen St.

Following Queen St down towards the sea, one finds the Britomart district dominated by its Victorian transport centre, where one obtains information, tickets and other tourist advice. It is also a transport hub with an underground train station and numerous bus termini around it (including a free city circle bus). Further along is Quay St, running parallel to the shore. The magnificent Ferry Building dominates Quay St and is where one may dine, shop and go through to embark on the ferries that transport one across the harbour.

We visited Victoria Markets situated just outside the CBD down Victoria St and located in an old incinerator building complex. This used to burn the city’s rubbish in the 19th century, but was soon put out of commission and is now home to several permanent stalls and shops, restaurants, cafés and tourist attractions. Opposite this is Victoria Park, not as impressive as Albert Park, but another welcome oasis of green in the City.