• Auckland
• Christchurch
Auckland
AUCKLAND 's urban sprawl completely smothers the North
Island's wasp waist, a narrow isthmus where the island is all but
severed by river estuaries probing inland from the city's two harbours.
To the west, the shallow and silted Manukau Harbour opens out onto the
Tasman Sea at a rare break in the long string of black-sand beaches
continually pounded by heavy surf. Maori named the eastern anchorage the
Waitemata Harbour for its "sparkling waters", which constitute
Auckland's deep water port and a focus for the heart of the city. Every
summer weekend the harbour and adjoining Hauraki Gulf explode into a
riot of brightly-coloured sails.
There could hardly be a more appropriate venue for the Americas Cup ,
which was held in the Hauraki Gulf with great fanfare over the summer of
1999-2000 . Team New Zealand's emphatic victory brings the event back to
the Waitemata Harbour over the summer of 2002-2003, and with the
infrastructure now firmly in place - there seem to be pavement cafés and
trendy restaurants everywhere - Auckland seems set to consolidate its
position as New Zealand's most progressive city. Despite Auckland's
cosmopolitan bustle and harbourside setting, few fall in love with the
city on short acquaintance or stick around long enough to scratch below
the surface. Those who persist might just find themselves as
enthusiastic about the place as Aucklanders.
The City
Auckland's city centre clings to the southern shores of the Waitemata
Harbour , with Queen Street , the main drag, striking south through a
downbeat business district largely sustained by banks and insurance
companies, as the ascendant inner-city suburbs - trendy Ponsonby,
affluent Parnell and go-ahead Newmarket - continually erode its
mercantile dominance.
Queen Street meets the harbour at the Ferry Building, hub of ferry
services to the North Shore, the maritime suburb of Devonport and to the
islands of the Hauraki Gulf. One of the best ways to begin your
exploration of the city is on foot, following the Coast-to-Coast Walkway
which starts here and winds up through the city past many sights .
Skirting Albert Park , wedged between the University and the Auckland
Art Gallery , the route then veers towards The Domain , an extensive
blanket of parkland that represents Auckland's premiere green space,
laid out around the city's most-visited attraction, the Auckland Museum
. The Domain divides the city from the inner-eastern suburb of Parnell ,
ecclesiastical heart of the city with the Cathedral , one of Auckland's
oldest churches and a couple of historical houses, both associated with
clergymen. The walkway finishes beside the Manukau Harbour, after
climbing to two of Auckland's highest points, Mount Eden and its more
diverting kin, One Tree Hill with its encircling Cornwall Park .
To the east of Parnell, the harbourside Tamaki Drive runs past Kelly
Tarlton's Underwater World to the city beaches of Mission Bay and St
Heliers. West of the centre, the suburbs spread out beyond the reclaimed
basin of Freeman's Bay to Auckland's most concentrated cluster of superb
restaurants and cafés along Ponsonby Road , and out to Western Springs,
home to the Auckland Zoo and the transport museum commonly referred to
by its abbreviated name, MOTAT .
Aucklanders with time on their hands and a penchant for thundering
breakers leave the stresses of city behind and head to the surf beaches
of the West Coast but there are local spots for a more impulsive dip,
particularly compact and often-crowded coves along Tamaki Drive and the
more expansive strands on the North Shore near Takapuna .
Christchurch
Capital of the Canterbury region and the largest city on the
South Island, CHRISTCHURCH (population 300,000) exudes a palpable air of
gentility and a connectedness with the mother country. After all, it was
perceived as an outpost of Anglicanism by its first settlers, was named
after an Oxford college, and has some of the feel of a traditional
English university town, with its neo-Gothic architecture and gently
winding river. To some degree it pursues an archetype - the boys at
Christ's College still wear striped blazers, and punts course along the
Avon - but the Englishness is largely skin deep. Modern Christchurch is
a lively melting pot of cultures, with a continental café scene and a
distinct, ever-changing Kiwi identity of its own. Indeed, those who
regard Christchurch as a quiet place in which to sleep off jet lag or
take a break from the long journey across the South Island will be
pleasantly surprised by the city's contemporary face. In recent years
its traditional conservatism has gained a more youthful, bohemian edge,
with an explosion of lively bars and restaurants , the emergence of
underground nightlife , and a burgeoning of the visual arts, theatre,
music and street entertainment. Such urban pursuits are nicely balanced
by the Pacific Ocean suburbs of New Brighton and Sumner, both of which
boast excellent beaches .
Straddling the main road and rail routes running down the east coast,
Christchurch is used by many tourists as a base from which to explore
the South Island, with the steep, angular terrain of Banks Peninsula and
the vineyards of the Canterbury Plains proving the most popular out-of-town
destinations. Many of the outdoor activities for which New Zealand is
famous are accessible from here, with a plethora of city-based companies
offering trips involving rafting, paragliding, ballooning and mountain
biking in the surrounding countryside . The city is also within a two-hour
drive of several good skifields to the west , making it possible to
combine a day on the pistes with an evening in Christchurch's numerous
nocturnal watering holes. Indeed the place's only real drawback is its
cost: compared with the rest of the South Island, Christchurch is an
expensive place to spend any length of time.
The City
The city centre, together with many of its more compelling sights, is
encased within the Four Avenues of Moorhouse, Fitzgerald, Bealey and
Deans. They define a useful border round the downtown area, in the very
centre of which is Cathedral Square . Scattered in the streets around
the square are the city's most attractive buildings, while over on the
western edge of the four avenues lies Hagley Park , a focal point for
leisure activities at weekends. Laid out in a grid pattern, Christchurch
is very much a low-rise city, with the cathedral spire serving as a
useful landmark. The architecture is predominantly nineteenth-century
Gothic, a style which still informs many of the more modern buildings.
Beyond the Four Avenues you pass into suburban districts like Riccarton,
Fendalton, Merivale and St Albans, each characterized by one- and two-storey
residential housing and beautifully kept gardens. Further west lie the
coastal suburbs of New Brighton and Sumner, which provide access to the
beaches of the Pacific Ocean.
Though very much an urban environment, Christchurch can also make a good
base for outdoor activities.
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