AUCKLAND CITY

Auckland City is New Zealand's largest city, having a population approaching half a million. By virtue of its unique location astride a narrow neck of land between two harbours, the city is almost surrounded by water. On the north and Pacific side is the Waitemata Harbour, while the Manukau Harbour is on the south and Tasman side. A notable feature of Auckland's landscape is the numerous extinct volcanic cones which rise above the skyline–Mount Eden, Mount Hobson, Mount Albert, One Tree Hill, and Mount Wellington. Rangitoto Island, also an extinct volcano, stands as a sentinel at the entrance of the Waitemata Harbour. Through north and south the city extends for 20 miles–from the east coast bays on the North Shore, and over the Harbour Bridge to the dormitory suburbs of Papatoetoe, Papakura, and Manurewa, south of the city. The city has a far-ranging importance as the chief centre for the rich farming land of the Waikato to the south and of the lesser developed Northland to the north. Even greater is its importance as a manufacturing centre, port, and centre of overseas communications.

Climate

During summer Auckland rainfall averages about 3½ in. a month. It becomes more frequent towards the end of autumn, reaching a maximum in June and July, each averaging 5½ in. of rain and 20 rain days, compared with only 10 rain days both in January and in February. The mean annual rainfall is 47–50 in., increasing to 55 in. near the Waitakeres. Rain days average 185 per annum and 100 of these have at least 0·1 in. of rain. Once in 20 years a fall of 5·5 in. may occur within 24 hours and 1·8 in. in one hour. In the last 90 years the longest period without rain was 39 days. Although the most frequent winds are from west and south-west, winds from other directions are common; a relatively large proportion of the strongest winds are from the north-east. Strong gales, with gusts over 60 mph, occur about twice a year. February, with a mean temperature of 67°F, is the warmest month and July (51°) is the coldest. In July the mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures are 57° and 46 respectively compared with a mean daily range from 74° to 61 in February. Temperatures normally reach 80° on only five days a year, but there are many days with maximum temperatures over 75° (45 per annum). These, too, are rather oppressive, due to the high humidity prevailing. Frosts generally occur only in sheltered low-lying parts of the city. There is no snow in winter. Sunshine averages 2,100 hours per annum; it is 50 per cent of the possible amount in summer, but only 42 per cent in June and July. Fog in the city occurs about eight times a year, mostly in autumn and winter, but almost invariably is confined to the night and early morning. Hail occurs about four days a year, mostly in winter, but causes negligible damage. Thunder is heard about nine days a year.

Industrial and Commercial Centre

The retail and commercial centre of Auckland is Queen Street. Here big department stores, small shops, theatres, and offices line both sides of the city's busiest thoroughfare, from the wharves to Karangahape Road. Increasing inner-city traffic congestion, however, is popularising the larger suburban shopping centres, such as Mount Roskill, Takapuna, Otahuhu, and Papatoetoe. Because of its leadership in the industrial field, the city contains the head offices of many New Zealand-wide firms, as well as provincial offices of most Government Departments. Industrial growth in Auckland began soon after the establishment of a settlement there in 1840, with industries essentially concerned with the everyday necessities of the community–saw-milling, brewing, flourmilling, clothing, and boat-building. Up till 1870 there was only an expansion in the number and size of these existing industries, but thereafter came the development of larger industries, such as machinery manufacture and tanneries, and brickworks at Onehunga and New Lynn. During the years 1900–30, there was little change in industry location, except for the development of freezing works at Southdown and Westfield, the opening up of Penrose for heavy industry after 1920, and the siting of engineering, boilermaking, shipbuilding, etc., on the reclaimed land behind the wharves. The 1936 Industrial Efficiency Act caused a large decentralisation of new and existing industries, so that most of the industries are located outside the central business area, the largest concentrations now being in Freemans Bay, Parnell, Rosebank Peninsula, Glen Innes, Onehunga, Ellerslie, Penrose, Panmure, and Otahuhu. Although the city has more heavy industry than any other centre in New Zealand, its major industrial activities are the manufacture of clothing, footwear, foodstuffs, domestic appliances and requisites, textiles, furnishings, building materials. It has also engineering and allied trades.

The University of Auckland is one of the six autonomous university institutions in New Zealand. There are nearly 5,000 enrolments in the faculties of arts, science, law, music, commerce, and education, as well as in the schools of architecture, fine arts, and engineering; the latter is situated at Ardmore, some 20 miles south of the city. Besides the old-established public and private secondary schools, there are many colleges newly built in the suburban areas to cope with the rapid post-war increase in school children. The Auckland Public Library is the largest of its type in New Zealand, with a Central Library, 10 branches and a mobile service. The rare books and manuscript collections of Sir George Grey, and the brothers Henry and Fred Shaw are without parallel in the Southern Hemisphere. The Reed Dumas Collection of books by and about Alexander Dumas is the largest outside Paris. Other libraries of note in Auckland include the Leys Institute Public Library, Auckland Institute and Museum, University of Auckland Library, and St. John's Theological College Library. The Auckland City Art Gallery has a comprehensive range of New Zealand art; its collection of European Old Masters is second only to Melbourne's, and its Frances Hodgkins Collection is especially fine.

Parks and Reserves

Auckland is fortunate in that the foresight of the early settlers and the generosity of various citizens have given it large open spaces in the form of parks and reserves. Some of these are of historical importance. Albert Park was originally part of the site of the old Albert Barracks. A marble tablet has been affixed to the remains of the barrack wall bearing the following inscription, “To commemorate the Union and Comradeship of Pakeha and Maori during the Great European War”. The Mount Hobson Domain is one of the numerous extinct volcanic cones which abound around Auckland. In pre-European days Mount Hobson was a point of strategic importance in Maori warfare, as it commanded the approach from the Hauraki Gulf. Remains of fighting trenches and large deposits of shell several feet deep, commonly known as Maori middens, can be seen on the slopes of the hill. Bastion Point, overlooking Mission Bay, was originally a fort and has a commanding view of the harbour. A monument has been erected here over the resting place of the Right Hon. Michael Joseph Savage, the first New Zealand Labour Prime Minister, and there is a sunken garden laid out in formal style. Parks set aside for active recreation include numerous golf courses, Eden Park (rugby football), Carlaw Park (league football) Western Springs Park and Stadium (motor-cycle, midget car, and bicycle racing), Alexandra Park (trotting), and Ellerslie Racecourse. Work on the Zoological Park was commenced in 1929, and its present fine condition is an example of what can be achieved from a treeless, rocky gully. Auckland's finest recreation area is the hundreds of beaches which border the Manukau and Waitemata Harbours, the Hauraki Gulf, and its islands, such as Rangitoto, Motuihi, Waiheke, Ponui, and Kawau. Swimming, yachting, boating, water skiing, and fishing are some of the numerous activities engaged in.

Communications

As the city extends from east to west across the Tamaki Isthmus, all surface communications north and south must of necessity pass through the city. Auckland is served (from the north) by the State highway, the approach being across the harbour bridge, and also by a provincial highway which enters the city via the North-Western Motorway at Point Chevalier. The State highway continues southward as the principal outlet from the city. The Auckland Harbour Bridge, opened for traffic on 30 May 1959, carries four lanes of road traffic between Auckland city and the North Shore suburbs of Takapuna, Northcote, Birkenhead, and Milford. The bridge is carried on piers sunk in the Waitemata Harbour at depths of up to 104 ft; the steelwork itself is 3,348 ft long and has an 800–ft navigation span rising 142 ft above high-water level. The city of Takapuna, part of Greater Auckland, is 5 miles distant on the North Shore; Whangarei, 108 miles north; and Hamilton, 83 miles south. Auckland is the northern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk railway, and a secondary line continues northward to the railhead at Okaihau. A loop line, Auckland to Westfield, and a branch to the Port of Onehunga, provide additional service to areas immediately south of the city boundary.

The Port of Auckland is situated on the southern shore of the Waitemata adjoining the commercial area of the city. Because of the size of its industrial complex and its proximity to the rich farming lands of the Waikato, Auckland has become New Zealand's largest and most important port. Auckland's share of the country's total trade is 26 per cent, compared with Wellington's 21 per cent. Auckland is the chief exporter of butter (131,550 tons), milk products (142,211 tons), frozen meat (107,456 tons), hides and skins (20,365 tons), tallow (18,147 tons), and iron and steel manufactures. These products constitute 76 per cent of her total exports. For the year ended 31 December 1963 the total imports were 2,788,293 tons, coastal trade contributing 629,029 tons and overseas trade 2,111,513 tons. Exports on the other hand totalled 748,762 tons, of which 198,197 tons were coastal and 550,565 tons overseas. The principal commodities of overseas imports are: motor spirit, etc. (380,220 tons), manures (287,229 tons), iron and steel, pipes, etc. (189,078 tons), raw sugar (109,346 tons), and bulk wheat (110,952 tons). Passenger movement through the port was 45,839 persons, as well as 23,191 through passengers. The Port of Onehunga on the Manukau Harbour is also controlled by the Auckland Harbour Board. The total trade of this port amounted to 109,770 tons in 1963. The main obstacle to the progress of Onehunga as a port is the bar at the entrance to the Manukau Heads, which limits the port to coastal vessels. On the North Shore of the city is Devonport, the chief shore station of the Royal New Zealand Navy, where docking and repairs are available to naval and merchant ships alike. Overseas and internal air services operate from the RNZAF Station, Whenuapai, a joint-user airport both for civil and for military aircraft. It is located 14 miles to the north near the upper reaches of the Waitemata Harbour. Ardmore Aerodrome, 20 miles south-east, near Papakura, serves as the light-aircraft centre. An international airport, now under construction at Mangere, 13 miles south of the city, is expected to be in service by 1965.

Foundation and Growth

The town of Auckland was founded on 18 September 1840 on a site selected by Governor William Hobson. Hobson was influenced in his choice of site by four factors: its central position between the then two main areas of European settlement, Port Nicholson (Wellington) and Kororareka, and the two main areas of Maori population, the Waikato and Northland; the great facility of internal water communication to north and south; the facility and safety of its port, and the proximity of several smaller ports abounding with valuable timber; and the natural fertility of the soil for agriculture. The settlement was named after George Eden, Earl of Auckland, Governor-General of India, a friend of Hobson's under whom he had served. In the period 1850–1900 there developed the nuclei of the present boroughs in the shape of villages and small-farming centres such as Newmarket, Onehunga, Tamaki, Howick, and Drury. Townships, such as Onehunga and Howick, served as redoubts for protecting the city against the ravages of raiding Maoris. Consolidation and development of the suburbs along main routeways out of the city took place in the first 20 years of this century–Remuera, Epsom, Ellerslie; north-eastern bays of the isthmus–Mission Bay, Orakei, St. Heliers; western marginal areas–Grey Lynn, Point Chevalier, Mount Albert; and the North Shore–Devonport, Northcote, and Birkenhead. From the end of 1918 to 1945 the growth of population merely intensified those settlement patterns already established, while there was a growth of industries and industrial areas, particularly on the south-east perimeter. Since then there has been a marked expansion in the growth of dormitory suburbs on the margins of the city–Papatoetoe, Papakura, Manurewa, Henderson, and North Shore. Auckland was originally constituted a borough on 29 July 1851 and a city on 24 April 1871. At various periods since then certain boroughs and road boards have amalgamated with the city. Nevertheless, the 22 city, borough, and county councils incorporated in the Auckland urban area have tended to hinder the process of uniform development.

Auckland is rich in places of historic interest, memorials, and the like. The War Memorial Museum in the Auckland Domain was opened in 1929 as a tribute to those who served in the First World War; recent additions recognise the services of the Second World War personnel. The museum is noted for its collection of Maori relics and carvings and for its fine library specialising in literature of the Pacific area. In and about Auckland there still stand some so-called “ Selwyn Churches”, monuments to the taste and ingenuity of their builders . Outstanding amongst these wooden buildings are those of the Chapel of St. John's College at Meadowbank, St. Stephen's Chapel at Judges Bay, St. Andrew's Church at Epsom, and All Saints' Church at Howick. The Melanesian Mission House at Mission Bay, part of which is maintained as a museum of South Sea Islands relics and artefacts, is a reminder of the students who trained there between 1849 and 1866. Earthworks and terracing, recalling the days of Maori occupation and war between tribes in pre-pakeha times, can be seen on Mount Albert (Owairaka), Mount Hobson (Remuera), and on Browns Island (Motukorea) in the Waitemata Harbour. Auckland's outstanding memorial, an obelisk and monument, is erected on the summit of One Tree Hill (Maungakiekie), the donor being Sir John Logan Campbell, the “father of Auckland”, who desired that the monument be erected “as a permanent record of his admiration for the achievements and character of the great Maori people”. Plaques erected at several points in the city mark spots of historical interest, such as that at Point Britomart where the Union Jack was first hoisted, and on the site of Partington's Windmill, which ground flour for a century before it was demolished in 1950. A plaque is planned to mark in O'Connell Street the spot where Sir John Logan Campbell built Auckland's first house (Acacia Cottage) in 1840, now preserved in Cornwall Park.

by Richard Gregory Heerdegen, M.A., L.R.S.M., Junior Lecturer in Geography, Massey University of Manawatu.