"Between two seas - Auckland the City of Sails" Auckland by Bernd_L

Auckland and it's metropolitan area is the largest urban area in New Zealand with a population of about 1.2 million inhabitants. About 25 % of the countries population lives here.

It's the place where most of the visitors arrive and depart because it's home of the most important airport. Before we went on our round trip we took time for a visit of this impressing city.

Downtown Auckland seen from Sky Tower

Situated on an isthmus between the main part of the North Island and Northland the city stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea. This makes it a perfect spot for water sports and is the reason for its nickname "City of Sails".

The climate is temperate. It's never too hot and never really cold. As it is on the southern hemisphere the warmest months and the best time to visit is from December to March. Average maximum temperatures then are around 22-24 C.

Auckland is a cosmopolitan city. Not only mingle the native Maoris with the Anglo-Saxons but also a lot of immigrants from all over the world. Large parts of the population are polynesian and asian people and this gives the city an exotic multicultural flair.

So Auckland is a lively city which offers a good quality of life. I could imagine living there if it wouldn't be so far away from the rest of the world.

• Pros:Lively city which offers excellent quality of life
• Cons:At the edge of the world - too far away
• In a nutshell:Interesting entrance of an even more interesting island