Auckland City - North Island, New Zealand

The commercial heart of the city centers around Queen Street which starts at the waterfront and runs up to Karangahape Road uptown. Queen Street, as the city's main drag and formally known as the "Golden Mile" does not glitter as it once did.

At the top end, cheap foodshops, internet cafes and convenience stores serve inner city apartment dwellers and students. Mid way down is a healthy sprinkle of upmarket boutiques and fashion brand stores. Check out the tourist stores in the lower part of Queen Street, towards the harbour.

A few blocks west , you cannot miss the landmark cloud piercing Sky Tower, some 500 meters (1,600 ft) high. It is the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere and the eighth highest in the world. Visitors are in whisked in high speed lifts to the top for an 80km view, or those less prone to vertigo can jump off the Sky Tower Sky Jump.

A few blocks east in Wellesley St are Auckland's two main Art Galleries with historical and contemporary collections by New Zealand's greatest artists. A must see are the idealised 19th century portraits of Maori by Gottfried Lindauer and Charles Goldie.

To the west of the bottom end of Queen Street is Viaduct Harbour, created to service Auckland's America's Cup defence, which is now home to super yachts, waterfront bars, restaurants and hotels.

A block or two to the west is Victoria Park Market, built on the site and under the tall brick chimney of what used to be the city's rubbish destructor until the 1970's. The market is a seven day tourist lure and the quality of most merchandise is high.

Further west still, a 10 minute walk or a short bus ride up the hill is Ponsonby Road, home to a plethora of restaurants and bars, from casual foodhalls to top end stylish and award winning dining. This edgy, young and hip area also offers excellent shopping. It is definitely Auckland's new Golden Mile.

At the top end of Queen Street is Karangahape Road, known to locals as K Road, a colourful area of urban diversity known for inexpensive restaurants, lively bars and clubs, slightly bohemian and sometimes grungy persona.

East of the city centre is Parnell and its refined style. Along Parnell Rise are some the cities best restaurants set in historical charm, as well as boutiques and galleries. At the top of Parnell is the Auckland Domain, a botanical discovery in the middle of the city, which is also home to the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Built on an eroded cone of an extinct volcano, the museum gives commanding sunrise views of the Waitemata Harbour. The museum is not only devoted to war artefacts but displays subjects of natural history, ethnology, archaeology, new interactive areas - spread over 3 floors with the emphasis now on the interactive rather than the dead. It also houses one of the world's finest displays of Maori and Polynesian culture.

Auckland City Activities

Parnell is the gateway to Newmarket, a busy shopping mecca with mainstreet shops, malls and the new Nuffield Street, a cluster of boutiques and restaurants.

The Auckland waterfront drive starts at the Ferry Building at the bottom of Queen Street and is a ribbon of tarmac that runs east from the port around the harbourside, winding some 10km (7 miles) along the seafront. The beaches are good for swimming and excellent for picnics. The footpath is busy with cyclists, runners and walkers and bicycle, boat, windsurfer and kayak hire do a roaring trade at weekends.

En route is Kelly Tarlton's Antartic Encounter and Underwater World and is a must see. This was the vision of NZ born Kelly Tarlton - a diver, explorer, storyteller and inventor - who linked us all with his love of the sea.

Tarlton's idea was to put something of the world he knew from his underwater adventures in front of people who were afraid to get their feet wet. Walk through underwater walkways and transparent tunnels and come face to face with sharks, massive stingrays, moray eels and other deep sea creatures.

You can also experience the Antarctic Encounter - ride on the snow cat and ride through a virtual Antarctic environment, tracing the footsteps of famous explorers and watch penguins play in the ice and the snow.

Other must dos in Auckland include: a trip to the Auckland Zoo, a world class facility with spacious natural compounds and a wide variety of native and exotic animals and species, including a nocturnal home for the Kiwi.

A trip up Mt Eden is well worth the effort. Just 3 kilometres (2 miles) south of the city center is the 196 meter (643 feet) extinct volcanic cone which is Auckland's highest point. It offers a dramatic 360 degree panorama of the region almost as good as from the Sky Tower.

Waitakere City

If you have transport, heading west of the city 15km will land you in Waitakere City, a sub city of Auckland which is one of the premiere eco tourist destinations in New Zealand.

Highlights include wine trails and vineyards, wild black sand beaches and the Waitakere Ranges. Here tall kauri trees, giant ferns and nikau palms create paradise for bushwalkers and filmmakers.

The popular TV series Xena and Hercules were filmed here. The ranges are easily explored by following Scenic Drive which will take you to the Arataki Visitors Centre, which is the place to plan walks and explorations.

Beyond the ranges, the west gets truly wild with a line of black sand surf beaches, namely Muriwai, Piha and KareKare (famous for its location in the opening sequence in the film The Piano).

All the west coast beaches are great surf spots but dangerous for swimming and unwary tourists often get in trouble. Although patrolled in summer, always swim between the flags.

LooknbookNZ can arrange your Auckland city accommodation and Auckland City activities bookings to allow you and your family/friends to have a whale of a time in the beautiful vibrant city of Auckland.