Auckland

Auckland (/ˈɔːklənd/ AWK-lənd), in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,454,300, 32 percent of New Zealand's population. It is part of the wider Auckland Region, which includes the rural areas and towns north and south of the urban area, plus the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, resulting in a total population of 1,570,500 that is governed by the Auckland Council. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world. In Māori, Auckland's name is Tāmaki Makaurau and the transliterated version of Auckland is Ākarana.

The Auckland urban area (as defined by Statistics New Zealand) ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous; the section from Waiwera to Whangaparaoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay. Auckland lies between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east, the low Hunua Ranges to the south-east, the Manukau Harbour to the south-west, and the Waitakere Ranges and smaller ranges to the west and north-west. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have two harbours on two separate major bodies of water.

New Zealand

New Zealand (/njuːˈziːlənd/ new-ZEE-lənd, Māori: Aotearoa [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa]) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The country geographically comprises two main landmasses – that of the North Island, or Te Ika-a-Māui, and the South Island, or Te Waipounamu – and numerous smaller islands. New Zealand is situated some 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and roughly 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga. Because of its remoteness, it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans. During its long isolation, New Zealand developed a distinctive biodiversity of animal, fungal and plant life. The country's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks, such as the Southern Alps, owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions. New Zealand's capital city is Wellington, while its most populous city is Auckland.

Somewhere between 1250 and 1300 CE, Polynesians settled in the islands that were to become New Zealand, and developed a distinctive Māori culture. In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer, became the first European to sight New Zealand. In 1840, representatives of the British Crown and Māori Chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi, making New Zealand a British colony. Today, the majority of New Zealand's population of 4.5 million is of European descent; the indigenous Māori are the largest minority, followed by Asians and Pacific Islanders. Reflecting this, New Zealand's culture is mainly derived from Māori and early British settlers, with recent broadening arising from increased immigration. The official languages are English, Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, with English predominant.

Northland Peninsula

The Northland Peninsula, called the North Auckland Peninsula in earlier times, is in the far north of the North Island of New Zealand. It is joined to the rest of the island by the Auckland isthmus, a narrow piece of land between the Waitemata Harbour and the Manukau Harbour in the middle of the Auckland metropolitan area. The peninsula is not conterminous with the local government area of Northland Region, which occupies the northern 80% of the peninsula. The southern section of the peninsula is administratively part of the Auckland Region.

The peninsula stretches northwest for about 330 kilometres from the Auckland isthmus, reaching a maximum width of 85 kilometres. It has a convoluted coastline, with many smaller peninsulas branching off it.

The last 100 kilometres of its length is the Aupouri Peninsula – a peninsula on a peninsula – narrowing to only some 10 kilometres in width. At its northern end, the Aupouri Peninsula includes a number of capes, each of which is claimed by some people to be the North Island's northernmost point: Cape Maria van Diemen, Cape Reinga, North Cape, and the Surville Cliffs, the actual northernmost point, at latitude 34° 23' 47" South.

Goat Island

Goat Island (or Goat Islands) may refer to:

Arts

Places

Australia

Canada

Ireland

Jamaica

Marshall Islands

New Zealand

Trinidad and Tobago

Hibiscus Coast

The Hibiscus Coast is a stretch of the Hauraki Gulf coast located in New Zealand's Auckland Region. It contains the northernmost part of the Auckland metropolitan area (as defined by Statistics New Zealand).

The Hibiscus Coast runs north from the Whangaparaoa Peninsula through Orewa to Waiwera. It is made up of several small suburban residential and commercial areas such as Stanmore Bay, Arkles Bay, Army Bay, Manly, Red Beach, Gulf Harbour, Silverdale and Stillwater, but the main town in the area is Whangaparaoa. The population is estimated to be around 28,000.

The area has been governed by the Auckland Council since the Council was created in 2010. It is represented, along with the East Coast Bays to the south, by the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board, one of two boards in the Albany ward of Auckland Region. From 1989 to 2010 it was part of Rodney District, until Rodney District Council was merged into the Auckland Council.

Recreation

The Hibiscus Coast has a wide range of beaches, which attract people to live there. Other places of interest on the coast or nearby include Snow Planet, Silverdale Luge (closed), Go-Kart Centre, the Pacific Plaza (and surrounding shopping centre), Hoyts 5 - cinema, the Waiwera Hot Pools, Orewa Beach, Shakespear Regional Park, and Gulf Harbour. Gulf Harbour is near the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, which is quite close to the wildlife reserve Tiritiri Matangi Island. Ferries transport people to the island from the harbour and back on a regular basis.