Auckland

© David Wall Lonely Planet.

Administratively, Auckland consists of a number of cities forming one vast urban sprawl. Auckland City proper lies between the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. North Shore City, including the suburbs of Takapuna and Devonport, is just over the harbour bridge. Manukau City is to the south of Auckland proper, Waitakere City is to the west.

The lively waterfront, with its stylish Viaduct Harbour and Princes Wharf development, is a good place to start an exploration of the city. The commercial heart is Queen St. It runs from Queen Elizabeth II Square near the waterfront uphill to cosmopolitan Karangahape Rd (K Rd), passing Aotea Square.

Parnell, just east of the city centre, is a fashionable area of renovated wooden villas crammed with restaurants and boutiques. Tamaki Drive (sometimes called Waterfront Drive) starts from here and continues east all the way to St Heliers Bay, passing the swimming beaches at Okahu Bay and Mission Bay en route. Offshore, the Hauraki Gulf is dotted with islands. Southeast of the centre is the huge green expanse of Auckland Domain, one of 22 parks in the city. To the west are the fashionable cafe district of Ponsonby and upmarket Herne Bay. And visible from just about everywhere in Auckland is the Sky Tower, which soars above the city centre.