For the last couple of years I've had a part time job in Ponsonby and I work every Sunday. Since I…read morelive in Mt Albert, the easiest and fastest route to work is to cut through Grey Lynn. This means that every week I drive past the Grey Lynn Farmers Market. After months of meaning to stop but afraid of being late to work, I finally got my shit together and left home early so I could have a look around the market before work. I'm glad I did. Now I don't have to spend any time wondering what I am missing out on. The Grey Lynn Farmers Market is held on Sundays from 9-12:30pm at the Grey Lynn Community Centre on Richmond Road, and is a great place to pick up fresh, organic, locally grown produce, fresh fish, and learn more about clean, sustainable living. I put my mother on to them and she now regularly frequents these markets, choosing to buy our fruit, dairy, veges and eggs from stall holders rather than the capitalist profit driven supermarkets :) Grey Lynn is known around Auckland as being a particularly tight-knit community with a great spirit, and it is events such as these markets which are entirely organised and run by locals themselves, that emphasises this community spirit. Bonus: The Market regularly hosts workshops that focus on gardening, preserving and other such home and lifestyle topics.

We went at possibly the worst time (during the fruit fly fiasco) but still, the Grey Lynn Farmers…read moreMarket has a lot to offer. There's delicious homemade cheese, pates & terrines, smoked fish and dips & olives. There's a pizza stall with an impressive portable outdoor pizza oven and of course, baked goods galore. Easily my favourite stall however the recent addition, Little Eats. Each week these guys have one savoury & one sweet option on offer made with as much local produce from the market as possible. This week was prawn tacos w tomatillo salsa and lemon meringue pie. With plans for second breakfast afterwards we went savoury. It was delicious- fresh & packed full of flavour. Definitely my not-to-be-missed stall. I do feel obligated to let you know that a lot of the stalls at the market at rather expensive. A lot of the produce is handmade and organic so it's justified but just a forewarning... this is not your typical farmers market!

Three stars means I liked it, probably would have given it four on a normal day, but due to…read moreconstruction the market is currently in an alternate space and seemed a little cramped and awkward. Parking was an issue. Great variety of vendors. My first day in NZ (flew in overnight) and when I passed the donut vendor, she was taking pictures of her wares and I remarked, what a good idea, they're lovely and I took a picture too, and slavered over them a bit more, but thought about the calories and started to move on, and an old man called me out saying you shouldn't take a picture unless you're going to buy something. I wasn't sure how to respond, but the vendor was super nice and said no worries. So, the picture is attached here to make you salivate too! :-)

Every Saturday, Parnell hosts their own Farmers Market just behind the Parnell library with fresh,…read moreorganic fruit, veges, deli good, bakery things, fish etc from 8am till noon- rain or shine. Not very well known but well worth a stop in- winning The Auckland's Best Inner City Market for Foodies (Denizen, Nov 14). Very cool New York Times rave also!

Lovely gardens and a oasis of calm and serenity in Auckland. We had gone in October and managed to…read moresee some cherry blossoms as well

Great botanical garden with so many things to see as well as a few other parks joined together. So…read moremany different sections. We couldn't believe this was free and you could easily spend a few hours here. There is also a cafe and art gallery near the entrance. Our favorite section was the rock garden

This is such a wonderful beautiful park. We landed in Auckland after a long flight and just wanted…read moreto stretch and get some fresh air, this was the perfect choice! We took the field trail up, I did it in sandals but sneakers or hiking shoes would be better, and we took the road on the way down. There were people having picnics, kids playing, dogs walking, people just enjoins the great outdoors. As we started the trail you can see cattle, a small cafe, and more at the bottom. As you climb the views are amazing. A 360 panoramic view of Auckland is visible from the top. It was just a majestic view from the top. Walk is easy, the views are spectacular, the trees are so unique and huge, it was lovely.

Lovely food great setting. The staff are friendly and it's a great place for families…read more 5 star

On the first day of our trip, we had just flown into Auckland the night before, and wanted to check…read moresomething off our bucket list right away. Going to a black sand beach ended up being super simple as this beach is located in Waitakere Ranges Regional Park and is only a 45 minutes drive from Auckland. What could be easier? The drive is beautiful and it was a straightforward find with the assistance of google maps.They have a nice visitor's parking area with well maintained toilets, information on hiking and local activities, and even a picnic area. The walk out to the beach was short and we enjoyed a rewarding coastline and soft smooth sand. We were there during the end of winter, so it was still pretty cold and windy but no less beautiful. It is a dog friendly spot and a lot of people were out flying kites and walking their furry buddies. It's a great location to spend a few hours or the better part of a day; and if you're traveling from a country where black sand beaches don't exist, it's an easy check off that must see list.

Beautiful rugged beach out West. I had my first visit here today; plenty of other people were also…read moreenjoying the sunny, summer public holiday. Families with their kites, pet dogs, a few surfers and one handful of people (adults and children) were having a model boat race down the water inlet - great idea! Looked like lots of fun! There were lifeguards on duty and they had flags set up to swim in between. Although I didn't see many people out in the water. All the West coast beaches are infamous for their tough swimming conditions. The beach has a nice long stretch of sand, gorgeous views and fresh, beautiful air. What more could you want?

This beach is rather short with not too much beach at high tide but it does has two saving graces;…read more 1) There is a great little park and playground at the south-eastern end complete with loos and an outdoor showers (of course!) 2) At the Northern end you can walk right the way round the rocks to Murrays Bay. It takes about 40mins and is a brilliant walk to do with four legged friends. TIP: Stop in at Paper Moon Cafe in Mairangi for a coffee or even better some Kapiti Icecream - delish!

A small though wide beach that looks across the ocean onto Rangitoto and has beach front property…read moreon the other side. You can access it from Huntly Road where there are public bathrooms and a cute playground for the kids. There are a few parks and not too far away a man-made wooden bridge that leads onto blue-y boulders and stone lined sand walkway down to the beach. At the end of the beach begins the concrete/stone walkway that goes onto Mairangi and Murray Bay. Lovely neat little beach

We walked into the bistro ready to have a terrific dinner experience based on their website photos…read moreand the warm, inviting appearance as we walked up. The ambiance was nice and felt like a cozy ski lodge. However, the hostess wasn't exactly warm or charming. She seemed to have a bit of a control issue. When we moved one of the 2 chairs at the 4-top to another side of the table, she expressed her displeasure and stated that we had to make sure that we gave the table next to us enough space, but there was definitely enough room for a small pony to walk through. The server was pretentious. The vibe we got was that he was busy with something else and could barely be bothered to share the specials and take our order. Because we weren't getting a great vibe, we decided just to order overpriced drinks instead of drinks and overpriced food. Do NOT order the old fashioned unless you like them super sweet. My husband is a fan of old fashioneds and had never had a ridiculously sugary drink as this before. The espresso martini was okay. Definitely not worth $26 though. This place is definitely overrated.

Wow, went last weekend on a magic day Went to the casual…read morerestaurant and had half the menu it was so good Service was great really good vibe Bread starter is a must Loved it

Great way to experience nature and learn from an experienced animal advocate. We did the night hike…read moreand it was thrilling to go thru the forest with Tristan. He provided a tasty picnic dinner near the beach. This was the last night of our 3 weeks in New Zealand and enabled us to end on a great non-touristy note. Highly recommend Tristan's tours.

Looking for a shore excursion off the beaten path in Auckland that would take me into nature and…read moreout of the city and after much research I settled on Habitat Tours. I am so glad I did. Tristan picked up my guest and I in the harbor downtown where our cruise ship was docked and off we went. We had opted for the Waitakere Half Day Tour which included a short hike through the beautiful sand dunes leading up to Lake Wainamu, a walk through the Cascade Kauri Park among the majestic and ancient Kauri trees, and some play time at Bethell's Beach to stroll the sands, wade into the waters, and take it all in (with tea and cookies waiting for us when we finished). It was just my guest and I on our tour so everything was tailored to us and very intimate. We loved chatting with our guide Tristan and we felt great about supporting a local small business. If we had more time we would have done a full day tour. Really just a fantastic day and would highly recommend Habitat Tours to anyone wanting to get out and explore nature around Auckland.