Setting the Scene

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand. In just over 150 years it has grown from a collection of tents on a harbour foreshore to a city of over 1 million people - about a third of the country's population. Auckland is ethnically diverse - and is in fact the largest Polynesian city in the world.

From Mangawhai Heads in the north to the Waikato River in the south, the Auckland region includes three harbours and covers more than 5500 square kilometres of land. New Zealand is at its narrowest point, 9 km, in Auckland with a thin isthmus separating the glistening waters of the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. The two harbours were once ocean floor, as fossils found on nearby islands indicate. Millions of years later there was land, and smallish volcanoes erupted from time to time. Then the sea rose at the end of the last Ice age (about 12 000 years ago), leaving the isthmus and coastline more or less as we know it today. The Waitemata opens into the large, sheltered Hauraki Gulf, which is dotted with islands, the most visible one from the city being the volcanic cone of Rangitoto. The city's geography is dominated by over 60 volcanoes - now grass covered hills - dotted around the city.

Auckland is one of the most spread out cities in the world, although its population is much less than places of similar area like London, Los Angeles, or Melbourne. Although it is one continuous urban area, Auckland is made up of four cities - North Shore, Waitakere, Auckland, and Manukau.

The Maori name for the Auckland isthmus is Tamaki Makau Rau, meaning "Tamaki with a hundred lovers". The lovers were the tribes who for many generations fought over possession of the prized land for Tamaki was considered a very desirable place to live. Auckland is still considered a very desirable place to live and many new immigrants choose to settle in Auckland. The first Pakeha (Maori for European person) settlers came mainly from England, Ireland, and Scotland. These early settlers thought Auckland's weather was terrific! More recent immigrants have come from Europe, India, South-East Asia and from Islands all over the Pacific. The latest wave of immigration has seen many South Africans.

For most of its history Auckland grew south of the Waitemata Harbour. Getting to the other side of the harbour - the North Shore, meant taking a ferry or making a long detour around. It was not until 1959 that the Harbour Bridge was built. Population on the North Shore grew in leaps and bounds and so did bridge congestion which became so bad that the four lane bridge was expanded by adding two lanes on each side.