After checking in at our waterfront hotel we spent the morning on a bus touring the city. We took in the city centre and some of its volcanoes, now covered with parkland. Mount Eden is the city’s highest volcanic cone (196m). Within the volcano was a traditional fortified Māori village. From here there are views of the narrow strip of land (isthmus) joining two major volcanic headlands. These two volcanoes and their lava flows have been invaded by the sea to create two harbours and an 11km wide isthmus.
Auckland has 50 volcanoes, many of them spatter cones, now covered with parts of the city. The last one to erupt was Rangitoto, about 600 years ago and therefore cannot be deemed extinct. The country is a hotspot as the magma is a 100km below the surface of the earth.
We returned to the city centre through suburbs where Art Deco buildings, including homes, that produced a flashback to times past like a living museum.
Lunch followed at the waterfront which is used as abase for the America’s Cup.