Things to do in Auckland
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White Lady
The lady in white stealthily materialises after dark, or is it that everyone's too drunk to notice her arrive? This mobile burger bus has been frying-up fast food to late-night boozers since the '50s. The burgers are exxy, but monstrous and greasy and best enjoyed while bathed in the neon glow of the late-night city.
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TIME Unlimited
To Integrate Maori Experiences (TIME) is the motto. A hefty set of cultural, fishing, kayaking, trekking and sightseeing tours are outlined on its website, including excellent kayak-fishing excursions (day/overnight $290/590)
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Café Melba
Old school through and through, this dim and moody café has businessfolk clustered at its teeny tables both inside and out on Vulcan Lane. At breakfast, there is Eggs Benedict done three ways: veg, regular and with salmon. Or dip your spoon in delectable stewed fruit or porridge. Later at lunch, the menu moves to bagels and curries.
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Agnes Curran
Beyond the compact courtyard, Agnes Curran café embodies the kind of homely comforts that encourage staying a while. An obviously homemade melting moment or lamington with tea or coffee tastes better surrounded by vintage-style kitchen gear and pottery. Quiches, pies and filled baguettes mean you can stay on for lunch.
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Sheinkin
Sheinkin stands out amongst the other eggs-and-coffee joints in Auckland's CBD due to its stellar Israeli-inspired food, quality coffee and unhurried atmosphere. They do a fabulous tasting plate, soups and salads and there is plenty of glossy reading material to peruse while you wait for your bagel.
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Toto
A comprehensive list of Italian and NZ wines accompanies Toto's choice of fine Italian fare. And dinner ain't over in the Montecristo Room till the fat lady sings, with set menu and opera singing available Saturday. Movie and music nights also feature.
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Stone Oven
On weekends you’ll want to get in early or get ready to queue for the breads, pastries, cakes and baked goods. Perfect for scoffing in situ, or away from the madding crowd.
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Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World
Housed in old stormwater and sewage holding tanks is this unique aquarium. A transparent tunnel runs along the centre of the tank, through which you travel on a conveyor belt, with the fish, including sharks and stingrays, swimming around you. You can step off at any time to take a closer look.
The big attraction, however, is the permanent winter wonderland known as Antarctic Encounter. It includes a walk through a replica of Scott’s 1911 Antarctic hut, and a ride aboard a heated Snow Cat through a frozen environment where a colony of king and gentoo penguins lives at sub-zero temperatures. Displays include an Antarctic scientific base of the future and exhibits on the hi…
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Auckland Art Gallery
The Auckland Art Gallery spreads over two neighbouring buildings. The Main Gallery, built in French chateau style, houses important works by Pieter Bruegel the Younger and Guido Reni in the European collection, and an extensive collection of NZ art. It’s worth calling in for the intimate 19th-century portraits of tattooed Maori subjects by Charles Goldie and Gottfried Lindauer alone. The New Gallery concentrates on contemporary art and temporary exhibitions (with varying admission charges).
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One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie)
This volcanic cone was the isthmus’ key pa and the greatest fortress in the country. It’s easy to see why: a drive or walk to the top (182m) offers amazing 360-degree views. At the summit is the grave of John Logan Campbell, who gifted the land to the city in 1901, requesting that a memorial (the imposing obelisk and statue above the grave) be built to the Maori people. Nearby is the stump of the last ‘one tree’. Allow a few hours to explore the craters and surrounding Cornwall Park, with its impressive mature trees and historic cottage. The information centre has fascinating interactive displays illustrating what the pa would have looked like when 5000 people liv…
reviewed
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SPQR
This ivy-covered Ponsonby Rd hot spot is well known for good Roman-style, thin, crusty pizzas and excellent Italian-influenced mains. The surrounds are a stylish blend of the industrial and the chic, the lights low (bring your reading glasses!), the buzz constant and the staff smooth and camp all at the same time.
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Iguacu
This always-popular multilevel bar and restaurant complex offers smart, casual dining. A European and Pacific-Rim menu is meat heavy, with a smattering of seafood. The relaxed, potted-palm atrium-like atmosphere heats up on Sunday after 12:00 with live blues and jazz.
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Canton Cafe
Constant queues out Canton Cafe's door are certainly no reflection of this cheap-and-cheerful restaurant's pace. More a sign of the popularity of this BYO-wine place's excellent Chinese dishes, which you'll have done and dusted within 30 minutes. Next!
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Manuka
Bowl in off Devonport's main street for bumper breakfasts and pizza cooked how it should be - fuelled by wood. Snaffle the corner window booth to watch the passing traffic or hover over a sprawling weekend paper; there's a place for everyone at Manuka.
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Rocco
Raise a glass to Rocco. Here, your glass will likely be filled with a heady mix from the cocktail list, and you'll be toasting the flamboyant and friendly service that brings you exceptionally fine Spanish-accented fare. Fahbulous dahling.
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Oh Calcutta
Arguably the country's best Indian (they will argue), Oh Calcutta ventures beyond the familiar butter chicken into exotic and ebullient menu territory. Try the sweet chilli duck, fish tikka (spiced and smoked) or something from the tandoor.
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Satya
Hugely popular, this humble-looking and humbly priced eatery has the best dahi puri (an entrée of chickpea, potato and yoghurt on a pappadam) and masala dosa (a crepe filled with potato-and-onion curry) in town.
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Euro
Euro is a thoroughly slick package of imaginative Mod-NZ cuisine, good-looking wait staff and sexy surrounds. The harbour views aren’t the greatest, but the dishes are always pretty as a picture.
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Mekong Neua
Plundering the cuisine of Northeast Thailand and Laos, this welcoming restaurant will fill your head with delicious fragrances and dreams of rice paddies.
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Landreth & Co
A popular brunch spot with an old-Ponsonby feel and a sunny rear courtyard. For something a bit different, try the kedgeree (kippers, rice and egg).
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Hiking NZ
Runs ‘hiking safaris’ leaving from Auckland: Volcanic Plateau ($745, five days); Far North ($795, six days); and Volcanoes & Rainforest ($1550, 10 days).
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Waitomo Caves and Rotorua Day Trip from Auckland
13 hours (Departs Auckland, New Zealand)
by Viator
See all the highlights of the Waitomo Caves and Rotorua in one day. You'll take a guided tour of Waitomo Caves stalactites and glowworms, and see Rotorua's bubb…Not LP reviewed
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Howick Historical Village
This fascinating 'living' museum will split visitors along 'Isn't it tacky/fascinating' lines, with its costumed staff evoking the atmosphere of Auckland in the turbulent pioneering era from the 1840s to the 1880s. There are over 30 buildings, many relocated here from other parts of the region.
The streets, the pond with ducks and geese, and the village gardens are faithful reconstructions of Victorian fashion, and there's a cafe with homemade goodies as well. There is a theme day on the third Sunday of each month, with special events and displays such as the blacksmith working at the forge, the 65th Regiment firing its muskets, and maybe even a chance to see the school i…
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Northern Spirit Southbound
8 days (ex Auckland/Waipoua Kauri Forest)
by Intrepid
Visit Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, Explore Tongariro National Park, Gaze at bubbling mud pools in Rotorua, Relax in the Bay of Islands, Enjoy a twilight enc…Not LP reviewed
from USD$2,490 -
Spirit Of New Zealand
17 days (ex Auckland/Waipoua Kauri Forest)
by Intrepid
Explore Waipoua Forest and its ancient kauri trees with the Maori, Relax in the Bay of Islands, Be enthralled by exciting Rotorua, Enjoy a guided tour of Te Pap…Not LP reviewed
from USD$5,025
