There's lots to love about Auckland. Here's five things straight off the bat:

WONDERFUL WAIHEKE

Just 35 minutes on a ferry from downturn Auckland and you can find yourself on an island oasis with white sand beaches, top class restaurants and delicious Bordeaux-style reds.

Waiheke (pronounced Why-hickie) is a quiet haven for arty types, wine connoisseurs and nature lovers. Hire a scooter or car to get to the WWII tunnel network and Connells Bay Sculpture Park but those eager to sample the alcoholic delights are best to book a reasonably-priced Ananda Tour.
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Highlights for wine include Stoneyridge and Goldwater Estate. For fine dining check out Te Whau and Mudbrick vineyards and rest your head at luxury digs, Te Whau Lodge or the Boatshed. There's lots of low-cost options too, cafes where the local creatives hang out, art studios to see the masters at work, wild coastal walks, good surf and a budget backpackers.

Some of the ferries will stop off en route at Devonport, a classy old-money suburb with lots of craft shops, good cafes and a striking waterfront position.

EAT AND DRINK AUCKLAND

You might not know it but Auckland is home to some top notch restaurants, and enough hip cafes and cool bars to rival Melbourne. You just need to know where to find them.

Dine By Peter Gordon and Kermadec in the CBD are both celebrated fine dining restaurants, while the nearby French Cafe is held up as the gold standard foodie experience in the city. Fish and chips are famously good in Auckland, and the Ponsonby Fish and Chip Co is one of the best.

Delicious, in the hippy-chic neighbourhood of Grey Lynn, is a locals' favourite for great Italian and the enchanting Gypsy Tea Room across the road is a great way to start the night. Another bar must is Bellota, in the CBD.

Good cafes are a dime a dozen but a top pick would be the stylish beachfront Takapuna Beach Cafe, on Auckland's North Shore.

Also highly rated are quirky Queenies, industrial coffee roasters Good One, the ever-tasty Dizengoff and Agnes Curran for old-fashioned lamingtons served in style. All are in Ponsonby, a great neighbourhood to explore on foot.

THE WILD WEST COAST

Auckland is unique in that it straddles two coasts, with calm, white sand beaches on the Pacific Ocean on the east coast and a wild, black sand wilderness on the Tasman Sea to the west.

Both are picturesque but for something very different and un-Australian go west. Just 40 minutes drive from downtown Auckland and you can find yourself at any of eight beaches with dramatic cliffs, high seas, rugged dunes and native bush. On a winter weekday chances are you'll be alone.

Karekare, where the The Piano was shot, is arguably the most compelling. There are no shops, few houses and a 15 minute walk to the water guarantees you'll be in the company of few. Its neighbour to the north is Piha, a famed but notoriously dangerous surf beach with great fish and chips, lattes and an old fashioned camping ground. Both beaches have bush-clad waterfalls and long, well-marked bush walks.

Muriwai beach, further north, is home to a gannet colony and the drive out there takes you through the wine region of Kumeu.

VOLCANIC CITY

Imagine 48 volcanic peaks stuffed into a city the size of Perth.

Another unique facet of Auckland is its unusual geology. The city is dotted with dozens of cones all within about 20km of the city centre. As you'd imagine that makes for an impressive skyline view from distant points like the aforementioned Waiheke Island. To get up close and personal, you can't go past the 30-minute ferry to Rangitoto, an island volcano that is just 600 years old, the youngest in Auckland's repertoire.

The ferry will set you back $18 return but that's all you'll spend.

Once you're there it is just you, a smattering of tiny tin-pot homes, native bush growing out of dark volcanic dirt and the huge perfectly-shaped cone, complete with crater. It's the ideal day trip in any season. Mount Eden, near the CBD, is the tallest in the field and has the most impressive crater and great views of the city. One Tree Hill (yes, that's its name) is also worth a visit for a walk through sheep-filled paddocks and a close look at sites where Maori built their villages or Pa before European settlement.

PACIFIC FLAVOURS

Auckland is the largest Pacific city in the world and it shows, on menus, in the music scene, on the catwalk and in the city streets. The melting pot mixes in the island cultures of Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, Tuvalu, not to mention all the rest.

For a taste like no other, head to Otara Markets in South Auckland on a Saturday morning to soak up island music, peruse exotic fruit and vegetables and buy up colourful authentic Pacific-style lava lavas (sarongs), shirts and crafts, including bright mats and huge tapa cloths. For Otara Market on the grandest scale time your visit to coincide with Pasifika, a massive annual day-long festival of Pacific culture, to be next held on March 13, 2010.


Source: AAP