Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
You can get around city center and the suburbs close to the harbor like Ponsonby, Devonport, and Parnell, on foot, by bus, and by ferry. Elsewhere, Auckland is not as easy to explore. The neighborhoods and suburbs sprawl from the Waitemata and Manukau harbors to rural areas, and complicated roads, frequent construction, and heavy traffic can make road travel a challenge. Still it's best to have a car for getting between neighborhoods and some city center sights. What might look like an easy walking distance on a map can turn out to be a 20- to 30-minute hilly trek, and stringing a few of those together can get frustrating.
If you're nervous about driving on the left, especially when you first arrive, purchase a one-day Link Bus Pass that covers the inner-city neighborhoods and central business district (CBD) or, for a circuit of the main sights, a Discovery Pass. Take a bus to get acquainted with the city layout. Getting around Auckland by bus is easy and inexpensive. The region's bus services are coordinated through the Auckland Transport. You can buy electronic Hop cards which can be used on buses, trains and ferries and its website can provide door-to-door information, including bus route numbers, to most places in the greater Auckland area. Timetables are available at most information centers.
On the eastern end of Waiheke Island, this award-winning vineyard in its own little valley with a view to Passage Rock has pricey and highly regarded wines. It's especially known for chardonnays, viogniers, and syrahs. The vineyard has a good bistro, which is very popular with locals. Tastings are only offered in the afternoon.
This vineyard has followers all over the world. The Stonyridge Larose, made from the classic Bordeaux varieties, is excellent, and the vintage often sells out. Reservations for lunch at the Veranda Café, which uses local produce including olive oil and wine, are essential. This place is popular with the helicopter-in crowd and visiting people who work in the film industry.
The friendly Dunleavy family started planting vines in 1989, and today Te Motu Bordeaux blend, made only when conditions are right, is on the wine list at many Michelin-starred restaurants in France. The winery gives tastings, but you must call first to check for times. Don't be fooled by the restaurant's name, the Shed; it caters to a fussy clientele for its grown-on-site garden-to-plate cooking. The wine list, which always features Te Motu wines from the heritage cellar, changes monthly. Reservations are essential for the restaurant.
The Babich family has been making wine in New Zealand since 1916, beginning first in the far north, where Josip Babich joined his brothers from Croatia and planted grapes near the gum fields. Years ago, the 72-acre Henderson cellar site was amid farmland, but it's now almost surrounded by houses as the population in west Auckland has grown. There are no tastings, but you can visit the cellar door and buy wine.
