 Comprising part of New Zealand’s largest urban area and forming its most populous city, Auckland is one of the country’s most popular visitor destinations. A city with indigenous and colonial history, combined with some unique natural attractions and 21st century facilities and services, Auckland makes for a great destination for a vacation, short trip or weekend break.
 Underlying much of the city’s metropolitan area is a volcanic field covering 360 square kilometres, in which some 50 inactive volcanoes sit. Some of Auckland’s most interesting sights can be found within this field, with the now extinct volcanic mounds offering some fascinating eye-candy. Mount Eden is one of the most popular volcanoes on the tourist trail and the larger Rangitoto Island is also a must-see, visit-able by boat on a daytrip.
Along with its other attractions including museums, art galleries, iconic landmarks, aquariums and theme parks, Auckland is capable of entertaining the whole family. Children’s interests are well represented with exciting locations such as Kelly Tarlton’s, Rainbow’s End and Auckland Zoo, as well as some great beaches where hours of fun can be had during the summer months.
 The city’s beaches have something for all visitors with opportunities for relaxation as well as countless activities for those feeling energetic. Water sports of every description are pursuable, with favourites such as swimming and snorkelling possible without assistance and others such as scuba diving, sailing, waterskiing and jet-skiing made easy through local tour and travel companies.
The beaches are also famous for their excellent surfing conditions, and anyone with a keen interest in this popular activity will find plenty of opportunities to participate.
There are many other outdoor pursuits on offer to Auckland visitors including golf, fishing and mountain biking. Walking and hiking are also easily pursued with some ideal locations for stretching your legs. Those who want to kick back might prefer to stay closer to the city and take advantage of its excellent shopping opportunities.
The city benefits from abundant popular annual events and festivals with something happening in every month. The Waitemata and Viaduct harbours are the settings for a number of maritime-themed events and are fascinating places to visit even when nothing is going on - the latter having famously hosted the America's Cup events of 1999 and 2002.
Auckland is well geared to receiving tourists and has a wide selection of accommodation options. A selection of upmarket hotels is available near to the airport, while most tourists choose to stay in the city centre at one of the picturesque harbours. Lodgings here tend to be small, comfortable and intimate with the exception of the larger hotels and luxury resorts, while there are some unique colonial buildings which have been converted into one-of-a-kind accommodations.
The city is served by convenient transportation options, with its own international airport providing a gateway for overseas visitors. Once in the city, the local public transportation system makes getting around easy and inexpensive.
History
Auckland’s earliest settlers were indigenous people of the Tainui, Hauraki and Kawerau tribes, descendants of the Hawaiian tribesmen who originally arrived in the area eight centuries ago. They were responsible for introducing species such as dogs and rats as well as foods such as yam, taro, kumara and gourd.
The city was built in a rich volcanic region which historians estimate to be around 150,000 years old. Some 48 volcanoes occupy the area, with Rangitoto Island being the youngest and the most recent to erupt, having seen activity just 600 years ago. The volcanoes were of great spiritual importance to Auckland’s indigenous people and remain the city’s most distinctive geological features.
 The area’s earliest European visitors included whale and seal hunters, British naval boats looking for wood for shipping vessels and famous names such as Samuel Marsden and Captain Cook. These travellers were responsible for introducing alcohol and tobacco to the region, as well as iron tools and muskets. They also brought Christianity and advanced methods of agriculture as well as a variety of new crops, thereby changing the ways of the locals.
Colonists continued to settle in the area, many of them from Britain, leading to the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, a document intended to establish rights to ownership of land between the British and the indigenous locals. Interpretation of the treaty has been subject to disagreements in the years since its ratification, and this has led to ownership disputes.
Boundaries were established and what was officially recognised as Auckland city became the capital of the wider colonial area that had been established on land obtained in a deal with the Ngati Whatua tribe. Agricultural industries developed, as did timber and copper mining industries with the assistance and support of the local people.
Relationships between the locals and the colonists flourished under this arrangement with prosperous times experienced during the 1840s and ‘50s. Things deteriorated, however, in the 1860s and the tribes of South Auckland suffered losses during what became known as the Land Wars.
In 1865, Auckland lost its capital status to Wellington. This failed to affect Auckland’s capacity for growth, however, with the next three decades seeing the city becoming the country’s chief port and centre for industry. More British immigrants arrived, their presence helping to develop other industries such as brewing, boat-building brick-making, flour-milling and gum-digging.
The arrival of refrigeration as a new technology in the latter part of the 1880s saw the port of Auckland used heavily for the transportation of fresh produce, thereby further increasing the city’s importance.
During the 1880s the city’s population swelled to 8,000, with a total of 20,000 locals residing across the isthmus. The same decade saw construction of a number of the city’s important buildings including City Library and Art Gallery and Customhouse, as well as structures at North Head, Bastion Point, Mt Victoria and Takapuna which were intended to protect the city from offensives.
 The city continued its trend towards growth and development into the 20th century, with the early 1900s seeing the construction of the Parnell Baths, Town Hall, Ferry Building and the Post Office. The magnificent Grafton Bridge was also built and hailed as the only structure of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
New Zealand played a part in both world wars, but Auckland was spared any damage from air raids with the conflicts taking place overseas. In WWII, however, all of the country’s resources were concentrated on contributing to the war effort and the city was stretched to its limits and subsequently left economically strained.
During the 1950s, Auckland saw large numbers of immigrants arrive from Holland and Britain, as well as others from the Pacific Islands in the 1960s, causing the population to swell to 630,000 by 1970. This same period also saw construction of the city’s motorways and the opening of Harbour Bridge.
By 1996, the city’s population had reached one million. What in geographical terms is a small South Pacific destination has now become a vibrant, modern city and a melting pot of different cultures.
Weather
For the greater part of the year, Auckland experiences a mix of warm and wet weather, with its climate leaning towards the sub-tropical. The summer season sees moderate to high temperatures (up to 17°C) and high levels of humidity with some rainfall (up to 95mm). The winter season is cool and wet, seeing lows of 8°C and up to 141mm of rain at the season’s peak.
The summer begins in late December and lasts through March, while winter generally spans June, July and August. The seasons in between see their fair share of rain with April and May getting up to 130mm and October getting up to 110mm of rain. Temperatures are moderate and typically transitional. Tropical cyclones and cold fronts which bring hailstorms are not uncommon and highlight the climate’s unpredictability.
Summer is the best season to visit the city when temperatures are at their highest and volumes of rainfall at their lowest. Aside from the possibility of storms, the city doesn’t experience any extremes of weather making it possible to visit at any time of the year provided you pack appropriate clothing.
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