Auckland is an incredibly scenic city on the North Island of New Zealand, strewn across many mountainous islands and bays (as you will see in the aerial shots). Dubbed the City of Sails, it’s bustling harbour is always full of boats and is great for touring/island hopping.
I was fortunate to be there in late November (2012) when Christmas preparations were underway and attended a huge holiday parade in the city. Another highlight of my visit was a daring base-jump I took off the Sky Tower, which is the tallest free stranding structure in the Southern Hemisphere ( at 328m). It was lots of fun and I recommend it as a safe and thrilling alternative to sky diving. Be sure to watch the video of that!
Worthy of note about the local cuisine is that lamb is very prolific here, and very good too. Mc Donald’s has a lamb burger, Subway has a lamb sub, and there are lamb hot-dogs everywhere. Don’t miss it if you visit here (you probably can’t anyway).
Some stunning views of the city and surrounding waterways from the air
Some scenes around the central business area and waterfront
Visiting some of the city’s restaurant & mall areas by night
Taking a boat tour of the bay, which includes visiting some of the small volcanic islands around — lots of colorful scenery!
A variety of odd pictures around the city including some sort of demonstration/protest, some street performers and eye-catching Christmas decorations
Visiting the Auckland Tower complex and going up to get some panoramic views from the top, doing the base-jump from there
Exploring some other parts of town including the university area, art districts and botanical gardens
Pictures from the Christmas parade full of colorful floats and acts
