Auckland is New Zealand’s biggest
city. And while it’s not the capital
– that honour goes to Wellington –
many say that it’s the most welcoming.
The City of Sails embraces people
from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, and has
the biggest Polynesian population of
any city in the world. Together with
a growing Asian community and the
native Maori people, Auckland has a
vibrant, international feel.
Maori pa
According to Maori legend, the fertile soils and volcanic peaks of
the Auckland area were created when two iwi
(tribes) clashed many
centuries ago. The Maori built forts, called pa
, on volcanic hills around
the city, which were then terraced and reinforced by the iwi
. While
many of them are no more than grassy mounds today, they give a
sense of how powerful and complex the Maori civilization was before
the Europeans invaded.
Governor
George Grey
Governor George Grey was no
ordinary politician. By the age of
27, he had led two expeditions
into Western Australia, had been
shipwrecked and then survived
only by drinking liquid mud. He
moved to Auckland in 1845 and
governed New Zealand until
1853, taking the reins of power
back up again between 1861
and 1868. Grey brought order to
the country and initially won the
hearts of the Maori with his interest
in their customs and beliefs –
although he later fought multiple
land wars against them.
Aucklanders strolling through
Albert Park can pay their
respects to Grey by
visiting his marble
statue.
City of Sails
Auckland sits on a stretch of land surrounded
by the Waitemata and Manukau harbours,
with access to the Tasman Sea. The waterfront
is a forest of masts – with countless yachts,
schooners, dinghies and catamarans bobbing
side by side. Auckland truly deserves its
nickname! There are more boats per person
here than in any other city in the world.
HilLary’s Head for Heights
One of Auckland’s most famous sons is Sir
Edmund Hillary, the man who, along with Tenzing
Norgay, was the first to scale Mount Everest.
Hillary was born in Auckland in 1919 and also died
in the city, in 2008. Since then, his achievements
have been honoured in many ways. Exhibitions
have been held at the Auckland museum, a track
around the city’s dramatic west coast called the
Hillary Trail has been established and a retirement
village has been named after the epic climber!
Reach for the Sky
Auckland is home to the tallest manmade structure
in the Southern Hemisphere, the awe-inspiring Sky
Tower. Looking a bit like an alien spacecraft getting
ready to return home from a mission to Earth, it’s
a 328m (1,076ft) high needle of a building, used
for telecommunications and observation. The
tower dominates Auckland’s skyline, and many
thrillseekers have used it for freefalling. They attach
themselves to an elastic rope and then drop
192m (630ft) from the top. Extreme!
America’s Cup
It’s no surprise that the
Aucklanders love sailing
and there’s one prize
that all of them want to
win – the America’s Cup.
If excitement was high in
Auckland during 1995,
when Team NZ won for
the first time, it was
boiling over in 2000. The
Cup was defended in
Auckland itself with a
sweeping, spectacular
5-nil victory over the
Italian team.
BAREFOOT BALL SKILLS
Most young children in Auckland grow
up running around without shoes. It’s
not because they can’t afford them, it’s
because it feels comfortable! It is also
believed to be healthier to allow young
feet to grow naturally, without cramping
them up in a shoe. Although many primary
schools in Auckland now require footwear
to be worn during the day, lots of kids still
walk to and from class barefoot as well
as removing their shoes during playtime.
They even play barefoot sevens rugby!