Auckland City

Advantages: Great place to see views of city
Disadvantages: It is a city and New Zealand is so much more beautiful to go rural

...General over view: Auckland was my first destination when I arrived in New Zealand, traveling into the city and seeing the Sky Tower for the first time was really cool, I remember thinking I made it! I am really here!! The City is big but easy to get around using the tram system they have in place. It is a very clean and friendly city, if you don't have long I would recommend a couple of days here. The Sky Tower is the main thing to see and do and is a great place to get great views, I also recommend taking a ferry trip to one of the near by islands. A great hint and tip for you is to take the Stray Bus free city tour, this was great to see what Auckland has to offer you, and you can book onto the tour through your hostel. They pick you up from the hostel and first take you to the Sky Tower, here they will ask if anyone wants to...

LIZKEMPO 10.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Auckland & Northland (New Zealand)

Olympus 8X25 WP I

Advantages: Image adjustments to give great view, waterproof, adjustable eye-relief
Disadvantages: fixed magnification, average build and design quality

.... But with the use of the Bak-4 prism, the small size of the lens is deemed unimportant. All-in-all the Olympus 8X25 WP I binoculars are great for camping trips or for destinations with pleasant views. And with the range of features to make your viewing experience all the more easier as well as being waterproof, it can prove to be money well spent. Other binoculars, which are in the same price range are fairly similar but have the disadvantage of not being waterproof. There are also may better than this but have a price tag which exceeds over £200. It is stated that the Olympus 8X25 WP I binoculars are intended for professional use, but I like to think of them as all round use for everyday people. This is because for the range of features you are getting a good deal and also because Olympus provide a 25 year guarantee with all their...

yassarikhan786 27.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Olympus 8X25 WP I

Auckland

Advantages: everything within easy access, friendly people, great atmosphere, plenty to do.
Disadvantages: becoming a victim of its own popularity.

...Those who just pass through Auckland on their way to the thrills on offer in the rest of the country don't know what they are missing. Auckland has it all - beautiful beaches, mountain ranges, volcanoes for the nature lovers, and fabulous restaurants and night life for the more outgoing. I meant to spend just a few days there whilst I found my feet but ended staying for four months, then returned again after seeing the rest of the country and spent another year there. On arrival there are plenty of places to stay, suiting all budgets. I started off in the YHA hostels at the top of Queen Street, which are much quieter than many of the others situated downtown. I quickly found like-minded people and found a place to rent for a reasonable price - if you need an agency there are a few on K-Road. Nice places to live which are close to...

blahblah2 11.05.2007 · Read review
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Review of Auckland & Northland (New Zealand)

Best hotel in Auckland (on a budget)!

Advantages: beautiful location, fantastic staff
Disadvantages: you cannot walk to the city

...We decided to book Spencer on Byron as our first stop in New Zealand as this hotel had the best reviews on a rival site, and was within our budget at about £40 per night. We landed in Auckland at 11 pm, tired after a 24 long trip from London. As Spencer on Byron is right across town, we got a good look of Auckland at night - beautiful. The taxi driver actually asked us how come we had picked that hotel as most tourists want to be closer to the city. At this stage we started to feel a bit worried about our choice, as in my experience taxi drivers are a good source of information on where to go and what to do. However, after a 35-40 minute long drive much of it through green luscious suburbs, we arrived at the hotel. The taxi ride cost us $80, including tips (you do not need to tip in New Zealand, but old habits die hard). As we...

annaroos1 17.04.2006 · Read review
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Review of Spencer on Byron Hotel, Auckland

Auckland Sky Tower

Advantages: Views
Disadvantages: You will not want to leave

...If you are thinking of going to Auckland then visiting the Sky Tower is a must do! It is not that expensive to go up and once you are up the tower the views are amazing. You go up in an elevator, and when you get to the top you enter the main circular observatory tower which has massive glass windows all the way around giving you a 360 degrees view of Auckland, some of the best views are of the world famous harbour and Mount Eden, a dormant volcano. If you are the dare-devil type then you can do the sky jump, by leaping of the tower and falling 192m with a 16 second free fall, and reaching speeds of 75kph. The Sky Tower is an amazing building with incredible views....

Ben_1907 12.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Sky Tower, Auckland

Great Auckland

Advantages: Wide range of Activities available
Disadvantages: Long Distances to travel

...New Zealand Earlier this year me and my family visited New Zealand, we spent 3 weeks there and we cannot wait to return. The key to New Zealand?s individuality is its remote location in the world, situated to the East of Australia?s coast it requires a 2 hour flight from Brisbane or Sydney across the Tasman Sea to reach Auckland Airport. New Zealand was once apart of the Australian continent but over millions of years the two land masses have drifted apart. In the vicinity to New Zealand are many Pacific island groups Tonga, Samoa & Fiji are few you may have heard of, these islands were formed by volcanic eruptions caused by the shifting of the Earths plates and many hundreds of island groups exist in this part of the world. One of the things I was presently surprised about was the travelling, I know some people don?t like...

robert23 19.04.2004 · Read review
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Review of Auckland & Northland (New Zealand)

Auckland / Northland highlights.

Advantages: big city, islands, picture perfect scenery ...
Disadvantages: Auckland traffic is a killer

...Auckland. I visit Auckland a couple of times a year for various reasons and always manage to find a new side to this city on every visit. This sprawling city is the largest in New Zealand and approx 1/3rd of the countries population live there. This makes for an interesting multi-cultural city but it is pretty much undistinguishable from most other major world cities. The thing that does make Auckland special is its setting. The city is located on a natural harbour and is made up of lots of interesting bays and coves. Auckland is known as the City of Sails and after familiarising yourself with this city you will see why. There are hundreds of yachts moored in various harbours all over this city and on a summer weekend the harbour is awash with water craft of every description. TRANSPORT I always have my own...

casnz 22.07.2004 · Read review
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Review of Auckland & Northland (New Zealand)

Don't rock the boat! Only 4 hours from Auckland!

Advantages: Great scenery, lots of activities, value for money
Disadvantages: Long way from anywhere! A bit dependent on the weather!

...If you are ever in Auckland I definitely recommend this "Rock the Boat" trip. The "Rock" is a boat offering overnight cruises on the beautiful Bay of Islands in the very north of New Zealand about a 4 hour drive north of Auckland. The captain and his friendly crew will meet you at Paihia wharf at 5pm or 4pm in winter to give you a bit extra sunlight. As you board the boat, all the crew meet you and ask your name etc and make you feel really welcome! I was actually a bit embarrassed because I didn't remember some of the crew's names even when they knew mine and they had everybody on the boat's names to remember and I only had a few to remember but it really did make you feel welcome! The people on the boat where a mixture of backpackers, holiday makers, singles, couples and people travelling alone so if you are worried about...

Allyalcock 01.06.2006 (02.06.2006) · Read review
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Review of Auckland & Northland (New Zealand)

Sky Tower, Auckland, New Zealand.

Advantages: Beautiful hotel, friendly staff, clean hotel.
Disadvantages: NONE

...My husband and I stayed three nights at sky tower in Auckland, New Zealand in 2005. The Sky Tower is 328 metres and the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. The hotel is huge but all the staff were very friendly, when I needed to contact my family by emails and was unable to get the hang of the computer, a young lad from the front desk came to help me do it. The internet was free to hotel guests and was widely used by most of our party. To get to our room we went up in the lift on our arrival but the lift stopped at a much lower floor and wouldn't move. When we all trooped back to the front desk where we told that we had to insert our room card in a slot in the lift to access our floors, only guests were thus able to go near the rooms. There are two brilliant casinos on two floors where I won lots of cash; all...

parkfields44 04.09.2007 · Read review
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Review of Sky Tower, Auckland

Gateway to Auckland

Advantages: Clean, efficient airport with large number of facilities
Disadvantages: none to mention

...a NZ$30 departure tax half of which goes towards the expansion of the ariport which has to be paid after check-in and before proceeing through password control but there are plenty of staff around to assist with any questions about this or anything else at the airport. There are plenty of shops and things to do should your flight be delayed. The airport itself is only 20minutes from the centre of Auckland with plenty of buses and taxis to take you on this part of your journey, prices are the same as within the rest of Auckland and not inflated because you are travelling to or from an airport. All in all a pleasant experience and I would go to this airport rather than another as I know what I'm getting. More details can be found on the official website www.auckland-airport.co.nz...

GrahamN 22.03.2004 · Read review
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Review of Auckland Aiport