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.
Scandrett Bay is just one of the tranquil beaches located on the Maharangi Peninsula, approximately 1 ½ hours north-east of central Auckland. It’s a perfect spot to relax and unwind if you want to do a day trip from Auckland, or there are three traditional kiwi baches that can be rented if you want a longer break.
There used to be baches (or cribs as they call them in the South Island) all along the Scandrett’s Bay shoreline. The Scandrett family whom the bay is named after, gave permission for a number of sites to be leased and at least 11 baches were built between 1950 and 1970.
Now just three remain and are owned by the Auckland Regional Council (ARC). New Zealanders love to have holidays by the beach so the baches are usually booked solid over the Christmas period but they are usually readily available outside of this period.
Graham Bach
Graham Bach, the middle one, where my family and I stayed for two nights recently, can sleep up to eight people. It’s literally right on the water’s edge, so the beach is your front yard. While we there we saw an Orca whale and its baby swimming not too far from shore and also a stingray which swum right past us in the clear shallows. Apart from some kayaking, and swimming, we also did a walk up over the headland. There are quite a few decent treks you can do that start from Scandrett Bay.
Kayaking
If you like historic places and cultural heritage, at the end of the headland is a Maori Pa site and the Scandrett Family homestead is open to the public. There is also a virtually intact collection of farm buildings dating from the late 19th century.
Scandrett Bay is a public beach but at night a gate closes off the entrance so you have the beach to yourselves. This, and the fact that it is a little off the beaten track, means that Scandrett Bay is not as overrun by people as perhaps some of the other beaches in the area and much of it’s natural beauty is still intact.
A guest post by New Zealand travel writer, Angela Pearse.
One great reason to visit this travel destination is to experience staying in authentic NZ bach right on the beach, a perfect way to relax and unwind with family and friends.
For More Information
To stay at one of the baches at Scandrett Bay visit the ARC website
Great Barrier Island is located 90 km from Auckland on the east coast of New Zealand. Angela Pearse spent a weekend on the island courtesy of Tourism Auckland and Sealink ferries.
Visiting Great Barrier Island is like winding back the hands of time. The 800 or so islanders generate their electricity by wind, solar, battery or diesel power. There is no main water supply or street lighting. Mail is infrequent and supplies of fresh food such as bread and grocery items are shipped over on the ferry.
But it is this back-to-basics lifestyle and untouched natural landscape which makes Great Barrier Island such a special travel destination. On our trip we met some locals who are passionate about “The Barrier”.
In Port Fitzroy on the west side of the island, Sven Stellin extracts manuka and kanuka oil and makes products, such as mosquito spray, balms, soaps and essential oils. He gives visitors a first-hand look into the process of extraction and a chance to buy Barrier Gold products.
Also at Port Fitzroy is Glenfern Sanctuary run by Tony Bouzaid. Glenfern is a 150 acre reserve where endangered species such as the rare black petrel, brown teal duck and North Island Robins can live safely from predators. Tony’s guided walk takes you through the sanctuary, which has elevated boardwalks through native forest and a suspension bridge into a 600 year old kauri tree. A ride in Tony’s Unimog, a 4WD all terrain army vehicle, is included in the walk.
Solar Panel House
Whether fishing, diving, kayaking, bush walking or general sight-seeing is the interest of the day, contact Steve Billingham of the Barrier Tour Company for an ‘Ultimate Tour’ of the island. Steve is renowned for his extensive local knowledge and humorous stories. He also runs Crazyhorse Trike Tours. A trike is a custom built motorbike that can seat two passengers side-by-side at the rear of the driver. Riders get a ‘wind in the face’ experience and commune with nature on an exhilaratingly intimate level.
Great Barrier Island accommodation and camping grounds
The largest settlement in Great Barrier Island is at Tryphena Harbour in the south west of the island where the ferry docks. It has a good selection of accommodation including:
There are eight camping grounds on Great Barrier Island, with some situated a short distance from pristine white sand beaches. Medlands Beach and neighbouring Okupu Bay on the east coast are particularly beautiful and it is not uncommon to see dolphins there in the warmer months.
Other top notch accommodations include Mt Saint Paul Lodge at Medlands Beach and Great Barrier Lodge at Whangaparapara Harbour on the west, which has self-contained cottages and backpacker cabins.
Currach Irish Pub, Mt Saint Paul Lodge and Great Barrier Lodge
For eating out there’s the Currach Irish Pub at Tryphena, a relaxed bar with live music and delicious speciality seafood dishes.
Or 20 minutes from Tryphena by car, Mt Saint Paul Lodge. A colonial style manor house set back from at Medlands Beach which offers fine seafood dining and stunning deck views. Hosts Trish and Ivan McMannaway are warm and welcoming.
Or try Great Barrier Lodge Restaurant and Bar at Whangaparapara Harbour, a perfect place to unwind after a day of tramping, kayaking, fishing or diving.
Sealink ferries and Fly My Sky
You can reach ‘The Barrier’, as it is affectionately known, by a relaxing four and half hour Sealink ferry ride (with onboard café + two movie theatres) or a 35 minute chartered Fly My Sky flight from Auckland Domestic Airport.
One great reason to visit this travel destination is for the more than 100 kms of walking tracks. One of the most popular is Kaitoke Hot Springs. Reached by a gentle meandering bush walk, Kaitoke Hot Springs has a series of natural pools for bathing and is the perfect place to relax and unwind after a hard day of sight-seeing on the island.
Kaikoura is located at the top of the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. A small township with a population of only 3,000 people, it draws around 900,000 tourists a year because of resident giant sperm whales and up to seven other species of whale which come to feed in the deep waters off the coast.
Angela Pearse spent three days in Kaikoura and had her own up close and personal whale experience.
“Our first sperrrrrm whale coming up ladies and gentlemen!”, shouts Jim our onboard commentator, and general funny man, for the two and a half hour whale watching experience.
Up until now we’ve been motoring at a steady pace from shore but suddenly the boat shoots off, rocking alarmingly up and down on the two metre swell. When checking in with Whale Watch Kaikoura [www.whalewatch.co.nz] there was a sea-sickness warning but I came prepared with my ‘Ease the Quease’ pills which I dutifully took before even setting foot on the boat. I have a weak stomach at the best of times.
A fellow passenger lets the waves get the better of her and throws up gracefully into a complimentary paper bag. I’m sympathetic but with cries of “We’re chasing a whale, ladies and gentlemen,” from Jim, there’s no time to waste being sick.
We all pile over to starboard (“If you’re on the left, you’re on the wrrrronnng side”, drawls Jim). And wait and wait. The captain turns off the motor and we galoop up and down on the swelling sea. Nothing. The whale has already dived and is now feeding somewhere up to three kilometres beneath us. “It could be down there for up to two hours,” says Jim, “We lost that race. But not to worry, the captain is going to listen to see if there are any other whales around”. A handy whale listening device is hastily produced which looks like a long bendy bit of plastic tubing with a funnel duct-taped to the end. The captain listens intently to whale noises which apparently sound like trying to start your car with a flat battery.
Whale watching
We take off again. Jim tells us that all the whales in the area are male as the water is too cold for the breeding females. The females are all (rather cleverly, I think) in the Bahamas. Some of the whales which we will encounter, like Manu, are resident and stay in Kaikoura all year round.
Soon enough we see our first whale, blowing and snorting up ahead. “Our first encounter, ladies and gentlemen, fantastic!” says Jim voicing our enthusiasm for us. But it is thrilling to see a whale close up, it looks like a large floating black log. But we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg, the very top of the whale’s head, the rest of the huge mammal is submerged somewhere beneath the waves.
“We don’t know how long he’s been up, he could go at any minute”, says Jim cheerfully, making us grab for our cameras. No pressure, I think. Sure enough the whale lies there for a bit then arches its back taking a last breath. “Cameras ready people”, calls Jim, “He’s about to dive!”. Sure enough the whale ducks down and its tail flicks gracefully up into the air. You could have heard a pin drop (apart
from the clicking of cameras). We are hooked. We want more whales and Jim knows it. We set out on the hunt once again with all of us hanging on for dear life as the boat powers off.
The experienced crew seem easily able to spot the whales from a long distance, and in total we see five sperm whales. But on the way back into shore Jim says he has a surprise treat for us. A sixth whale, a rare Southern Right is in the area.
We all pile outside again as the boat plies patiently up and down the shoreline in search of the whale. “Over to starboard mate”, says one of the crew. After a few seconds a black hump and a tell-tale waterspout emerges on the slate grey horizon. “This whale’s behaviour is slightly different”, Jim tells us. True enough, it doesn’t lie on top of the sea and flick its tail but duck dives smoothly beside the boat as we putt alongside like its anxious child.
We gaze in mesmerised awe until Jim says it’s time to leave the whale to continue feeding. Though I doubt any whales had actually stopped feeding for a minute because of our presence. They probably
never even noticed we were there.
Jim plays us a series of videos on the trip back to shore which show typical whale behaviour, such as tail thumping and jaw clacking. In one of them called ‘The Encounter’ a determined whale tries to make contact with the boat. On second thoughts, I consider, perhaps it is best to leave them feeding in peace.
The Complete Whale-Watching Handbook: A Guide to Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the World
The Traveler IQ challenge ranks geographic knowledge of cities such as: Punta Cana, Willemstad or Columbia by comparing results against 5,473,834 other travelers.
Other top notch accommodations include Mt Saint Paul Lodge at Medlands Beach and Great Barrier Lodge at Whangaparapara Harbour on the west, which has self-contained cottages and backpacker cabins.
Entries (RSS)