Natural Wonders Surround New Zealand’s Largest City : A Visitor to Auckland Can Experience Wilderness Just a Ferry Ride Away

Except for a few gulls foraging on the water’s edge, the beach--an uncluttered, milelong swath of white sand--was empty. A warm breeze blew across a roaring turquoise sea, and everything else seemed ominously wild and solitary.

Twisted and gnarled pohutukawa trees clung to rocky cliffs. Bush-clad dunes, disheveled and high, concealed the rugged forests and farms that lay behind. No boats disturbed the sea.

Although I was on Great Barrier Island, only an hour by ferry across Hauraki Gulf from Auckland, it was nearly dusk before I saw any people. I had spent the afternoon reading on the beach and swimming in translucent South Pacific waters. Then, as I strolled up the beach, I was startled by a young couple on horses racing through the shallows. Just as quickly, they were gone.

Night fell quickly on Medlands Beach. As I returned to my farmhouse accommodation along a gravelly road, the world around me was sheer black and quiet. The only signs of life or light came from the sky, already aglow with thousands and thousands of stars and the hazy white band of the Milky Way.

Such isolated, unspoiled natural splendors aren’t rare in New Zealand. Packed into this sparsely populated country the size of Colorado are rugged mountain ranges, lush river valleys, glacial fiords, volcanic thermal regions, sheltered harbors and pristine beaches.

But what makes this beach on Great Barrier Island so surprising is that it--and so many of New Zealand’s other scenic virtues--can be found in and around Auckland, the country’s biggest city.

I didn’t know or see much of this when I first visited Auckland as a tourist. Like most overseas visitors, I was prodded by guidebooks and Aucklanders to visit the more spectacular South Island.

Now, having lived in Auckland for two years and having seen much of the North and South Islands, I’d never suggest otherwise to those who have the time to explore both halves of the country.

But, considering that most Americans spend some time in Auckland, the country’s gateway-- and many never get far beyond it--it’s silly not to wander a bit from the city’s downtown shops and hotels to get a genuine taste of New Zealand’s distinct character.

First settled during the 19th-Century British colonial rule, Auckland has blossomed into one of the South Pacific’s most cosmopolitan cities. Its 1 million people are mostly Europeans, Maoris (Polynesians who first settled New Zealand) and Pacific Islanders.

Its heart is Queen Street, a bustle of main street commerce, shopping and restaurants that would feel quite familiar to most Americans--except for the souvenirs emblazoned with such national icons as sheep, whales and seals, the native kiwi bird and the national rugby team, the All-Blacks.

But the city’s soul is its harbor and coastlines. Built on a narrow isthmus of volcanic hills between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Auckland feels more like a charming subtropical island than a country’s industrial and commercial center.

Thousands of colorful yachts blanket its calm, inner-city harbors. Clean, uncrowded beaches shaded by native pohutukawa trees sit a mile from its busiest streets. Atop the city’s coastal hills and volcanic summits loom, in the words of Mark Twain, “the blue bays twinkling and sparkling away in the dreamy distances.”

While full of picturesque views and colorful marinas, Auckland’s waterfront doesn’t have the tourist-oriented complexes or polluted waters you’d find in Sydney or Hong Kong. That’s part of its charm; it’s still a place where the locals play.

For me, no place better celebrates that waterfront than the six-mile promenade that runs east from the city center to St. Heliers Bay.

On weekends and summer evenings, it swells with Aucklanders who have gathered to swim, sail, sunbathe, windsurf, cycle, fish, paddle kayaks, play rugby, jog and stroll.

The road and footpaths carry you past bathing beaches, boathouses, a Maori meeting house, an aquarium, picturesque parks and some of the city’s best restaurants--all dwarfed by sweeping Rangitoto Island, a dormant, bush-covered volcano that lies in Hauraki Gulf.

Across the harbor on the city’s north shore sits the historic seaside village of Devonport. A 15-minute ferry ride from downtown, it’s one of the best examples of the city in miniature.

Nestled below twin volcanic peaks, its main street features an old waterfront tavern, small museums, quaint restaurants and some of Auckland’s best arts and crafts. A good time to take the ferry to Devonport is Wednesday night, race night, when the harbor brims with sailing vessels.

What lures me to Devonport, however, is that it’s a wanderer’s delight. Well-preserved Victorian villas, so common in Auckland’s early days, sit side by side. Idyllic golden beaches pop up between rocky reefs and grassy knolls. There’s even a labyrinth of underground tunnels on an old military post built during the scare about a Russian invasion in the late 19th Century.

Waiheke Island, one of the 40 islands in Hauraki Gulf, offers some of the same on a grander scale. This 23,000-acre island suburb of Auckland is popular among “alternative lifestylers” and working artists such as potters, jewelers and leather workers. Accessible by $12 ferry ride from downtown, it also boasts tranquil sandy beaches, private coves, native bush and vineyards.

An hour from the city by ferry and a world away is Great Barrier Island, the largest of the gulf islands and one of the most distinctive places in all of New Zealand. If Auckland is your only stop in New Zealand and you want a taste of the country’s remoteness and unspoiled landscapes, this is the place to go.

By ferry or private boat, the 55-mile ride unveils all the treasures of the gulf’s sheltered waters: pristine coastlines, plentiful deep-sea fishing, dolphins and even whales swimming alongside sailboats.

But that tranquillity disappears as you near Great Barrier and hit the roaring Pacific, which arrives after an uninterrupted crossing from Chile.

The island is no less rugged. Sheep and dairy cows graze on patches of green strung along the rocky and craggy hills. Old fishing boats chuck and sway in dark waters. Dilapidated trucks and bruised, multicolored cars wind along the island’s dirt and gravel roads.

Each time I visit Great Barrier I’m jarred and buoyed by its remoteness. Home to the world’s first regular airmail service (carrier pigeons), this island has shown disdain for progress for over a century.

Power comes from diesel generators, solar panels and windmills; water from rain and wells. For their livelihood, the residents--a colorful mix of eccentrics, hippies and new-agers--rely primarily on farming, fishing and somewhat begrudgingly on tourism.

Of the villages and settlements scattered over the island, Medlands Beach is, for me, the most idyllic. It’s a small community of farms, two lodges and a tiny white church, with a wealth of available activities in the pristine outdoors: hiking through miles of kauri forests and native bush, fishing, horseback riding, bird-watching or relaxing on a long, sandy, deserted beach that’s as primeval as I’ve found anywhere.

Auckland’s downtown doesn’t feel much like a big city either. That’s its problem. It’s pleasant enough for visitors, like a suburban shopping mall with a view. Still, the city offers a surprisingly first-rate selection of pottery, wool products and restaurants, as well as some fine paintings in the city art museum and galleries.

There’s ample proof of the country’s British heritage, from its passion for tea, fish and chips, rugby and cricket to its pubs, architecture, gardens and parks.

I see this most when I wander east of Queen Street, through a tangle of side streets and towering trees. There, I pass cafes, small shops, Victorian buildings and the clock-domed city gallery on the way to the colorful gardens of Albert Park and the University of Auckland’s crenelated tower.

I find this Britishness, too, in Cornwall Park. Its 300 acres offer an unusual pastoral setting for walks and picnics as sheep and cows graze beside native kauri and rimu trees in the heart of the city.

Atop the park lies One Tree Hill, a 600-foot volcanic cone whose summit bears a single pine tree and obelisk. This fortified site affords one of the best views of the city and its harbors.

Night life in downtown Auckland is a bit of a misnomer. Virtually no one lives there. Movie theaters, concerts, restaurants and pubs draw some crowds, but most Aucklanders prefer to meet in the inner-city suburbs where they live, such as Mission Bay, Ponsonby, Devonport and Parnell.

The most cherished and trendiest is Parnell. A village of restored colonial houses adorned with lattices, gardens and wrought iron, its galleries and boutiques are a great place for browsing. Parnell is also home to many of the city’s best restaurants.

Ponsonby, Auckland’s version of Greenwich Village or the West Side, is pleasantly unconventional and offbeat. A fringe neighborhood of gentrified Victorian villas and ordinary apartment houses, its main street delivers an eclectic mix of the city’s best live music clubs, traditional pubs, outdoor cafes, galleries, antiques and award-winning restaurants.

Whatever you do in Auckland, don’t forget the city’s other coast, to the west on the Tasman Sea. It’s the first place I was taken when I landed in New Zealand. It’s the first place I recommend to visitors. And it’s the first place I head to on the weekends when I need to get away from it all.

There are orchards and vineyards and the Waitakere Ranges, 16,000 acres of subtropical rain forest that make up Auckland Centennial Memorial Park. The Waitakeres’ walks and tramping tracks wind among towering kauri trees, giant ferns, rock pools and remnants of old timber dams.

But most of all there are the beaches of black-iron sands and pounding surf. Piha, 28 miles from the city center, is the wildest of the exposed west coast beaches. Dominated by masses of rocky outcrops, a thunderous and dangerous sea, blowholes and miles of exposed beach, it’s always a refreshing and cathartic place to visit.

These might not be the stimuli you’d expect to find in New Zealand’s biggest city. But, as those of us who live in Auckland know, unless you wander away from the city’s downtown and sample such spectacular landscapes and coastlines, you will assuredly be disappointed in what you see.

GUIDEBOOK

Landing in Auckland

Getting there: United Airlines, Continental, Air New Zealand and Qantas Airlines fly to Auckland from Los Angeles. Nonstop round-trip fares range from $965 to $6,462, depending on class of service, date of purchase and length of stay.

Getting around: The most reputable metered taxis are Auckland Co-op and Alert. It should cost about $18 to get from the airport to the city center. Most of the city and inner-city suburbs are accessible by bus via the downtown bus center. At night, the buses run less frequently and the bus terminal should be avoided. A daily bus pass costs $4.50.

Fullers Cruises runs regular gulf ferries, tours and island accommodation packages from the Ferry Building at the Waitema harbor front.

Rental cars are available from $20 a day. Avis, Budget, Hertz and National are the most reliable. (If you plan to drive in New Zealand, read the road rules. Driving on the left side of the road is the most significant but the not only difference.)

Where to stay: Auckland’s two best downtown hotels are the Pan Pacific and Regent; room rates are about $200 a night, including tax. The Travelodge, Hyatt and Sheraton charge $142-$175. Quality Inn costs about $110 a night. There’s also a full range of cheaper accommodations, self-contained motel units, farm stays and backpackers’ rooms throughout the city. Waiheke Island’s Stonyridge Vineyards offer distinctive bed and breakfast accommodations in the vineyard’s loft for $80.

Sightseeing: The best place to start is the Auckland Visitor Centre, 299 Queen St., near the Aotea Centre; 011-64-9-366-6888. Before or after you arrive in Auckland, the center offers the best information and recommendations on accommodations and activities, from vineyard tours, bush tramps and city walks to live music, traditional pubs and bungee jumping. Recommended local tour companies: Scenic Tours (P.O. Box 13-446, Auckland) and Bush & Beach (P.O. Box 35-240, Auckland). For adventurous outdoor pursuits, contact Ross Adventures (P.O. Box 33-686, Takapuna).

Shopping: Auckland offers few great bargains to an American shopper, but New Zealand’s crafts, pottery, wool and leather products are first-rate and reasonably priced. Clay Feat is a potters’ co-op in the Countrywide Mall on Queen Street. Canterbury, with stores citywide, offers quality rugby shirts and sportswear. Breen’s Sheepskins and Knitwear (8 Quay St.) and Woolskin Warehouse (18 Stanley St., Parnell) are two of the many city shops selling sheepskins and wool products.

Where to eat: Many restaurants are BYOs, where you can enjoy a good meal for as little as $30 a couple. Tipping is not expected or widely practiced in New Zealand. The best restaurant guide is Michael Guy’s Eating Out. Recommended restaurants: Vinnie’s and Varick’s (Ponsonby), The Latin and The Jewel of India (Mission Bay), The French Cafe (Symonds Street), Ramses (Newmarket), Metropole (Parnell), Cin Cin (Ferry Building), and with views as well: Sails (Westhaven Marina), The Hunting Lodge (Kumeu) and Harbourside (Ferry Building).

For lunch and inexpensive meals: Sitting Ducks (Westhaven Marina), Thunderburgers (Mission Bay), Middle East Cafe (Victoria Street) and Simple Cottage (High Street).

The cafes with the city’s best coffee: Kerouac (Vulcan Lane), Millers (Queen Street), Atomic Cafe (Ponsonby) and Katzen (Queen Street).

When to go: Auckland’s subtropical climate has no extreme temperatures. Summers are warm, 73 degrees on average; winters are mild but often wet (especially August), 58 degrees on average.

For more information: Contact the New Zealand Tourism Board, 501 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 300, Santa Monica 90401, (800) 388-5494.