Sightseeing, Auckland

One of the nice little suburbs of Auckland is Mission Bay, with the beautiful water view and the nice park set against the beach, this is definitely worth the 10 minute drive from downtown. Sarah is sitting in front of the Trevor Moss Davis Memorial Fountain, which opens in the springtime for a water and light show. Springtime officially starts on September 16th for those interested and in the area during that time.

Mission Bay is located just to the east of downtown Auckland.

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Crystal Mountain is set on 19 acres within the Waitakere Ranges. They have the largest selection of rare and exquisite minerals and crystals in New Zealand as well as meteorites. They have been collected from all around the world. Some pieces weigh an astonishing 1000kg and some stand at over 2 metres high.

Open Mon – Sat 9.00am – 5.00pm and on Sunday 9.00am – 4.00pm
20kms from Auckland CBD

Location: 80 Candia Road, Swanson, Waitakere, West Auckland

Crystal Mountain has a café which serves brunches, lunches as well as Devonshire teas. If you have a group, you can organise a Churasco (a traditional Brazilian bbq).

Location: Crystal Mountain, 80 Candia Rd, Swanson,Waitakere, West Auckland

The property also has a theme park which includes pony rides, a bungy trampoline, or you can pan for crystals. There are plenty of animals the kids can also enjoy while taking a Crystal Mountain Express Train ride around the property.

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If you are into heritage there is this site based around a brochure entitled "Heritage Walks - The Engineering Heritage of Auckland" They have 2 tours which take in 20+ locations around Aucklands CBD. There are pics, and panoramas to look at stuff.

Check it out!

North of Auckland is Gulf Harbour which is on the Whangaparaoa peninsular. This area was developed after NZ won the America's Cup. With upwards of 1000 berths it is one of the largest in the southern hemisphere. From the Whangaporoa Peninsular, you can get great views of the Hauraki Gulf where the yachting takes place.

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Devonport is on Auckland's northshore.
Ferries cross the harbour and also depart from here to the various islands scattered in the gulf. Devonport is a wonderful old area with great cafe's, restaurants and shops. Lovely to take the ferry over from downtown Auckland to have lunch and a stroll around and catch the ferry back again.

Another novel thing which I did with some friends one night was have dinner in downtown, then catch the ferry over to have dessert in Devonport.

The Hunua is in South Auckland (about one hour away from the city). It was one of Aucklands best waterfalls (I love waterfalls). The power from this waterfall is amazing...... also in the area visit the two dams.....

Onehunga is south of Auckland and was one of the early areas of Auckland. The name Onehunga means "landing place" in Maori . There is a heritage walk you can take which visits a variety of the early colonial buildings which include some settler cottages which were built in the 1850’s. There is also a defensive blockhouse which was built to protect Auckland during the Land Wars of the 1860’s as well as early hotels, churches and factories. Onehunga is rich in history of both the Maori and European settlement and trade. There is a Pump House which was built in 1888 which still produces clear spring water to the residents of Onehunga. To do the walk takes about 4 hours. You can contact the Auckland Visitors Information Centre for more detail.

The Musick Point Air Radio Station opened on January 12th 1942 and provided radio contact for ships and aircraft. The NZ Post Office originally operated the station but then the Air Radio Civil Aviation Corp took over leaving the Post Office to handle all the maritime services. Telecom later used the building for the Cellular Service. The building and point were named after Captain Edwin G Musick who flew in the early flying boats, a trail blazing the route to South America, China and New Zealand. He was the first to pilot the South Pacific survey flight from the United States of America to New Zealand, landing his four-engined flying boat called the “Samoan Clipper” on the Auckland Harbour on 30 March 1937. On his second flight from Pago Pago to NZ in 1938,he and his crew died in an accident. This radio station stands as a monument to this pioneer and also houses a plaque to the Post Office radio operators who were murdered in the Kiribati Islands during the Second World War, by the Japanese.

Location : Musick Point Road, Muscik Point