Where is Auckland?

Auckland, New Zealand

Renowned as the city of sails, Auckland shows itself to be among the biggest tourist attractions in all of the two beautiful islands of New Zealand. Maybe this is because of its exotic area islands and beaches or its breathtaking forests and glass like seas. It could also be because of the attractions, entertainment, and restaurants that cater to the visitor. Auckland possesses a large quantity of things for visitors to see and do. You will find adventurous and outside activities, nightlife, and even shopping. No matter what your age is, you will find many things to occupy you in the amazing city of Auckland.

The first thing that you will need in your Auckland visit is some flights to Auckland. As the largest city in New Zealand with plenty of outdoor activities, indoor shopping, and dining opportunities, you can count on major flights to Auckland from many destinations. From Washington D.C., American Airlines, United Airlines, Air Canada, Continental Airlines, and US Airways all provide cheap flights to Auckland. Qantas and Air New Zealand fly from New York City. From London, a number of full service and discount carriers also make Auckland flights. These include Air China, Thai Airways, Emirates Air, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, United Airways, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and the budget airline bmi.

Once you are in Auckland, you will find that there are plenty of things to do to fill your time. History lovers will want to go see the Auckland Museum. It contains historic New Zealand’s priceless treasures. It is located in the beautiful Auckland public reserve.

There is the most famous landmark of Auckland for to see, the Sky Tower. This icon rises 328 meters over the skyline of Auckland. You will find bungy jumping activities here, and a few good restaurants located inside the tower itself. Below it is the Sky City Casino with still more attractions.

If you love the sea, then you will want to visit Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic and Underwater World. This aquarium that showcases literally thousands of sea creatures and fish has more than two million liters of water. There is also an Antarctic display found here with penguins living in ice and snow.

For all of you outdoors lovers, the Auckland Zoo is an attraction that is worth your time. The zoo is beautifully landscaped and makes for a wonderful outside walk. Here there is an enormous gathering of both rare and unusual animals, like the kiwi, zebra, lion, and giraffe.

Beach lovers will want to go walk along Mission Bay Beach. This stretch of sand is visited by both tourists and locals alike. The best time to see it is early evening or late afternoon.

The most famous place for shopping in Auckland is Victoria Park Market. At over a hundred years old, this is a must see market building for you shoppers. In it you will find market stalls and many shops offering art, fashion, crafts, and many other items. There are also nice restaurants from which you can choose.

Frommer’s New Zealand

Map

TravelTipsPlus Google Map of Auckland

One Great Reason to Visit Auckland

One great reason to visit this travel destination is to marvel at the view over the City of Sails from the impressive Sky Tower.

Tourism Auckland

For More Information

• Wikipedia
• Official Tourism Site

The Twelve Days of Christmas

We’d like to wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you for your support during 2010!

We thought we’d share a Christmas Poem as retold by June Williams in Australian style and based on the traditional “The Twelve Days of Christmas” which is a cumulative song, meaning that each verse is built on top of the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by “my true love” on one of the twelve days of Christmas. Each gift being an Australian bird or animal.

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me an emu up a gum tree.

On the second day of Christmas my true love sent to me two pink galahs.

On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me three jabirus.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love sent to me four kookaburras.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love sent to me five kangaroos.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love sent to me six platypuses.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me seven koalas climbing.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me eight possums playing.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love sent to me nine wombats working.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love sent to me ten lizards leaping.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love sent to me eleven numbats bagging.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love sent to me twelve parrots prattling.

The Online Geography Game

I was recently introduced to the online Geography Game – Where On Google Earth? Google Earth images are posted and you offer your answers by leaving a comment in the comment box. If no answers are left, a hint in the form of a larger image with more detail is posted. Winners are posted each week.

This is a great game if you have good knowledge of the numerous travel destinations around the globe and their geographical features.

Have a go yourself – Where on Google Earth

Travel Photo of the Week: Melbury Abbas, Dorset, England

As many of you would know, whilst south/eastern Australia is sodden and bracing flood warnings as we move into summer, much of northern Europe is experiencing record winter temperatures for this time of year. This is a recent photo from the country-side by the nearby village of Melbury Abbas in Dorset, southern England, where they experienced snow, hoar frost and -4C, the photo says it all!

Photo courtesy of Lavinia from Dorset.