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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

General

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General.

Beautiful for situation, and felicitous in many of its developments, the City of Auckland stands unrivalled in all this beautiful Colony of New Zealand. Long before reaching the noble and lovely harbour, the visitor is well prepared for romantic prospects. Whether the Hauraki Gulf be entered from the North, between the Barriers and the mainland, or from the South, between Cape Colville and the Great Barrier, visitors, even if repelled by the inhospitable nearer shores, are delighted with the bold headlands, pretty bays and far-reaching inlets. At sight of the Island of Kawau, the mind of the New Zealander reverts to memories of Sir George Grey, and to the beautiful and hospitable home which that illustrious man made there. As Waiwera is passed, recollections of natural hot baths, delighted holiday-makers, and interesting tourists, exclude for the time all other thoughts. Then the Island of Tiritiri-Matangi claims attention; and if there be and old Aucklander among the passengers he will promptly cut down the long name to “Tiri,” it being considered new-chumish to use the map name of the lighthouse island. An old miner, clean shaven, or with, perhaps, a “goatee,” may be found on the portside of the upper deck, pointing with pride to the lofty hills of the great gold-bearing peninsula of Coromandel, and telling of the good old days of rich returns and poor machinery, when “even a working miner had his chance.” Then, casting a glance down the Firth of Thames, he will mention such names as “Shotover,” “Golden Crown,” and “Long Drive,” with those of lucky diggers like Hunt, Clarkson and Cobbley, wondering why he so narrowly escaped their good fortune. But his little knot of interested listeners must run across to starboard,
Auckland from the Wharf.

Auckland from the Wharf.

page 44 where the green fields and smiling homesteads of the mainland, near Lake Takapuna, are attracting eager throngs of spectators. On the port bow, the symmetrical insular volcanic cone of Rangitoto stands like a sentinel to guard the harbour of Auckland, and to challenge the wild waves which occasionally seek entrance thereto. On approaching Rangitoto, and particularly at the sight of the North Head and Mount Victoria, the old Aucklander, returning to the home of his youth, waxes eloquent over the growing beauties of the North Shore, whose formerly bare though snapely hills are now clad with trees of many shades, and whose lands are occupied with scores of houses quite new to him. But, on rounding the North Head, his eloquence dies away, and he falls into a suggestively subdued mood, as he tries to pick out the old spots in the wondrously changed city. Mount Eden he recognises, despite the fir trees in pretty patches from base to summit; the Domain is just the same, except that the natural bush has been supplemented by thousands of acclimatized trees; but he looks in vain for Point Britomart, that noble knoll which has been sacrificed to cover the old mudflats, over which now stand rows of handsome and substantial buildings.

But the stranger has no eye for these details. He is too busy even to enquire as to the mysterious appearance of Fort Cautley, for he sees the broad and usually smiling waters of the Waitemata running up into the land for miles before the bends and islets hide its upper reaches. Stretching away to the east the waters of the outer harbour are open to an uninterrupted view for twenty miles or more, while straight ahead there is spread out a panoramic presentment of Beautiful Auckland, and her still more beautiful suburbs. No one has ever been known to confess any disappointment on first beholding this magnificent view. For miles on either side of the wharves are pretty bays in charming succession and variety; and in the distance the undulating lands culminate in Mounts Eden, Albert, Hobson, and other hills, while everywhere there are trees and gardens, which make monotony an impossibility.

But Auckland, though technically situated on the East Coast, may be approached also from the west; and though the conditions are widely different, this second approach is only less interesting than the first. The steamers usually employed on the west coast are small, and the sea is often rough, but these things only serve to heighten the joys of harbouring. Having ascertained by signal that the crossing of the Manukau Bar may be safely attempted, the task is confidently attacked, while the officers off duty may perhaps mischievously call the attention of the more nervous passengers to a spot, near the port bow, where on the 7th of February, 1863, Her Majesty's ship “Orpheus” was wrecked, and 181 brave British sailors lost their lives. But if the bar be rough, as it is occasionally, thoughts of the past naturally give way to the consideration of the present. After a lively quarter of an hour, however, the bar is probably a matter for the memory only, while all interest centres in the Heads. At first glance, these are more wonderful than beautiful, looking like a great ditch or a Wellington street cutting on a large scale; but on closer acquaintance they are found to be of fair width, though in at least one part, just inside the heads, the steamers pass literally within a very few yards of the shore. At these points the bare hills of the entrance have given way to wooded slopes, which, especially on the northern shores, are very beautiful. These in turn are succeeded by the undulating grassed lands of Onehunga West; while to the south, in the direction of Wailuku, stretches, what at high tide, but only then, looks like an inland sea of small dimensions. For some time before the wharf is reached, attention is arrested by the fertile farming district of Manager, situated opposite Onehunga, with which it is connected by a bridge measuring, with its approaches, more than half a mile. The Managere Mountain—less than half a mile from the bridge—is the most noticeable feature in the view from the harbour. It is easily climbed, and the sights from its summit are much too good to be missed by the tourist. On nearing the wharf, the stranger is apt to be seized with a feeling of abject disappointment. He knows there is a town, for everyone has heard, and no one is allowed to forget, that Onehunga is the only borough in the British dominions ever blessed with a lady mayor. But nowhere can he see this favoured borough, and there is but little to indicate its existence. Indeed, if he should take the train at the wharf for the continuation of his journey to the city, he will probably altogether miss seeing the town of Onehunga, for it stretches along the high road to Auckland, and to this road every shop in the borough has its frontage.

The railway from Onehunga to Auckland runs for about half its length through dreary stony paddocks; but during the latter half pretty glimpses of Remuera, Hobson Bay, and the Domain are obtained, and then in a few minutes the passengers are deposited almost in the heart of the City, the station being surrounded by lofty hotels, warehouses and flour mills. Unfortunately the harbour of Onehunga is unsuitable, at present at any rate, for vessels of large draught, but not with-standing this it is a great boon to Auckland. To see at a glance the excellence of the site on which stand the city and suburbs of this favoured centre of population, visitors should take an early opportunity of ascending Mount Eden, the views from which beggar description. The greatest travellers agree that nowhere else in the wide world is so easy a climb so amply rewarded. The harbours of both coasts seem to lie almost at the feet of the beholder, whose eye quickly catches the spot where the waters east and west are separated by what seems to be but a few yards. Round the base of the hill, and between it and the southern shores of the Waitemata, is spread the City of Auckland, with its pleasant suburbs, while in the distance are to be seen the green paddocks of Epsom, Remuera, Otahuhu, Tamaki, Panmure, Onehunga, Mangere, and other places; the towns, the villages, the mansions of the rich, and even the cottages of the poor, being all amply provided with shady trees, which give to the whole landscape that delightful expression of ease and comfort, which never fails to please the mind as much as the eye.

For a still better bird's-eye view of the numerous islands and islets, which bested the harbour of Auckland, a climb of about 900 feet—to the summit of Rangitoto—is necessary. For this page 45 about an hour's steam in one of Auckland's comfortable ferry boats has to be undertaken, and the climb from the Rangitoto wharf takes a little over half an hour. But, once there, the visitor is loth to leave, for a truly surprising sight meets his astonished gaze. These views can suffer nothing from the most profuse eulogium, for their realities transcend the limits of expectation. The sinuous courses of the Waitemata and Tamaki rivers, and many smaller streams, and the graceful outlines of the islands with their many inlets, vales and hills, are all discernible. The whole Hauraki Gulf is under survey on the one hand, and on the other, the City and suburbs, backed by the Manukau and the land and sea beyond.

Taken in detail, Auckland is still beautiful. Within two hundred yards of the main business thoroughfares, by way of Victoria Street, and but little further by way of Wellesley Street, are the entrances to Albert Park, where attention is divided between the beautiful sub-tropical flowers, shrubs and trees, and the charming views of the harbour and City. On the western corner of this Park stand the handsome Municipal Buildings—better known as the Free Library—which also contain the Art Gallery and the Elam School of Art. Near the eastern frontages of Albert Park, there are many commodious and ornamental tenements erected by leaseholders on city property, and contiguous to these, there are the admirably situated grounds of Government House. A little further away, the Supreme Court—one of the handsomest buildings in the Colony, from an architectural point of view—stands out in bold relief overshadowing the old Parliamentary buildings in the rear. Higher up, in the direction of Mount Eden, and just past that old landmark, Partington's Mill, are the two original cemeteries, with their fern gullies and pretty patches of native bush. Eastward across the spacious and closely wooded Domain is the suburb of Parnell; and westward there stretches away for miles, the newer and more scattered Ponsonby, which cannot be called a suburb, inasmuch as the greater portion of it is within the boundaries of the City. Both at Parnell and Ponsonby there are numerous spurs jutting out into the harbour, and forming most delightful little bays. On the opposite or North Shore, are the suburbs of Devonport, Northcote, Birkenhead and Chelsea, which are all pretty, and destined to play important parts in the development of Auckland. Still further up the Waitemata, the shores are equally pretty, though separated by a narrower stream, and no doubt as time goes on settlement on these remoter shores will be greatly increased. Auckland is destined to be a large and prosperous centre of population, and it is a matter for the happiest congratulation, that, with such ample room for development, the whole isthmus, so delightfully surrounded, must every year become still more beautiful.