Auckland

About
Auckland has all the businesses and retail.

Auckland is an hour's drive wide

How much will it cost to rent?
Flats are rented out here by week. Expect to pay $140/wk - $220/wk for inner-city Suburbs in an average quality shared flat. For a better quality flat, or for less people, expect to pay $240+/wk. If you want to pay about $120/wk you might be pushing it, but can find a decent flat outside of the inner-city. Average rent for a 3 bedroom house is around $400-$500 a week if you want to be less than 15 minutes from the city centre by private car.

Expect to have to pay about 2 weeks in advance plus two weeks security deposit/bond to move in. Not all places will require it but it's a good scenario to go by. (Reddit source ).

Where should I live?
As close to town as possible. If you don't own a car, live in the city or you'll hate yourself. If you can't afford to live in the city get a car or you'll hate yourself.

The competition for rentals / buying is fierce towards the CBD, so good luck. If you look closely though, you can find some reasonably priced gems in either West or South Auckland. Despite the ghetto image of South Auckland and the redneck / bogan image of West Auckland, there are suburbs in each which aren't too bad.

Close to a train station would be handy, but not a requirement. Somewhere in the city fringe would be best.

DO NOT go for any house whatsoever that has that plastered Mediterranean look. This country is too damp and wet for that style. The plaster cracks and water gets in. There is a very strong chance that it will be suffering from Leaky House Syndrome.

Inner suburbs
Best inner city suburbs to live in are Ponsonby, Arch Hill, Saint Mary's Bay, Herne Bay, Freeman's Bay, Grey Lynn, Kingsland, Mt Eden/Eden Terrace, Newmarket, Remuera, Kohimarama, Westmere and Parnell. These are quite expensive to buy in, but are reasonable to rent in.

Outer suburbs
The outlying suburbs suffer from problems typical of outlying suburbs. I would suggest Onehunga, Pt Chevalier, Mt. Albert and Royal Oak as great suburbs with which to base yourself if unfamiliar with the Auckland eco system. Avoid South Auckland and the North Shore - they're both far enough away to have their own distinct community focus. If you need to be based further out to save money on rent, try and find accomodation close to a major bus line or railway line into the city center.

Cycling?
Auckland is not very flat at all, so you might find yourself biking up a lot of hills.

I've found cycling into the CBD from the Western suburbs is pretty quick and fun. Southern end of Ponsonby and Grey Lynn. There's a super-quick non-main road route over the Hopetoun Bridge, with bonus extremely photogenic views of the city, Devonport and the Harbour Bridge.

I'm currently living south of the city (Kingsland/Mt Eden) and your bike routes into the CBD tend to be along arterial routes which you share with the buses, so less ideal and not so scenic.

There's an 11km North Western cycleway which is mostly dedicated to cyclist-only. It's a commuters cycle track, rather than a particularly exciting / scenic one.

Otherwise, as mentioned by other people, Living in Mission Bay / St Heliers will give you a gorgeous view of the Waitamata Harbour in the morning, and is pretty flat. (Reddit source ).

Bars

 * Carnival 42, Cassette nine, The library bar, Wine cellar
 * Mea Culpa on Ponsonby Road, just around the corner from Agnes Curran is a great little cocktail bar. It's owner operated and has a huge range of very hard to find spirits, lots of absinthe too for the more adventurous type. Also it's next door to Renkon which is super tasty, you can get yummy Japanese from Renkon and sit in Mea Culpa and have a cocktail/wine/beer with your meal, its pretty badass.
 * Hallertau (brew bar) out in Riverhead is an awesome place for a afternoon drive, [good] pint and a nice meal.

Cafes

 * In Highbury, a small area of Birkenhead, there is a tea shop called Momos. Go there for an awesome view of Auckland, fairly average food (we just go there for the tea selection) and the fact they won't bother you if you sit there for like 4 hours with only one drink. Comfy seats, terrible, terrible music (great to laugh at), but the place to be for fireworks, monopoly, or poker nights.
 * Agnes Curran
 * Revel
 * Hum salon
 * Circus Circus
 * Frasers
 * Orvieto
 * The Fridge
 * Jafa
 * Revel, K Road
 * People
 * Voila, Sandringham
 * Shaky Isles, Kingsland (IMO much better coffee than The Fridge opposite)
 * Kokako Cafe, Parnell (also a roaster)
 * Conch Records, Ponsonby Rd (obviously good for more than coffee)

Markets

 * First Thursday - Market on Auckland's most diverse and funky street K Road
 * Kraftbomb - Cool craft wares
 * Avondale markets - Buy anything second hand, and cheap produce
 * Otara market - in the heart of Polynesian Auckland
 * Auckland Night Markets - Saturday and Sunday nights 6pm to midnight
 * La Cigale - French-style market in Parnell
 * Glenfield Mall Markets

Eats

 * For cheap asian eats, go to either the Ponsonby Food Court or Food Alley in town (11 Albert St I think). Those places are always packed out and you can get a big meal for under $10.
 * There is a little mexican cafe in Ellerslie that is absolutely amazing. Without a doubt my favourite cafe in Auckland. It's only open Thurs - Sat for lunch but is worth a visit regardless of where you are from. Get a soft shell taco and the fish tostida. http://www.mexicanspecialities.co.nz/CAFE.html
 * A good place for great pizza and cheap drinks in town is Kiwi Music Bar it is above Brooklyn bar on Queen St.
 * As for restaurants? Prego, on Ponsonby Rd is my favourite one. Best Italian food in Auckland, just brilliant every single time you go there.
 * muzza's pies. 55 Richardson rd. They make great pies. It's a good place to take a tourist who doesn't know the pleasure of the humble NZ pie.
 * For fancy dinner, Cibo in Parnell
 * Awesome burgers at Murder burger in Parnell
 * Good breakfast at Benson Road Deli in Remuera
 * Try a chocolate pancake from Corner Pancake, corner of Wellesley and Lorne (Which is also right where the Academy is). And walking around in that little area... Lorne/Victoria/Durham has some interesting shops and fountains.
 * Kens on Anzac Ave in the city for really yummy Japanese
 * For vegetarian options see: http://www.reddit.com/r/auckland/comments/1vxnes/redditors_of_auckland_best_vegetarian_restaurants/

Walks

 * The west coast beaches are worth checking out. I would recommend heading out to Bethells beach, where you can walk up to a massive sand dune and go for a swim in the lake there.
 * There is also the Sir Edmund Hillary trail that follows the cliff north along to Murawai beach. If it's too long you can just turn round and head back.
 * I also like Cornwall Park, great for picnics and walks, and the playground and flying fox are awesome if there aren't too many children about.
 * Go for a hike in the Waitakeres
 * A fun walk is to park at the boat club in Takapuna Beach, and head west along the coast. You walk around some weird lava formations and tiny white beaches. The cafe at Takapuna Beach make their own fabulous ice creams, like licorice and lemon.
 * If they are into a bit of walking this is the most extreme 'bushwalk' I've ever been on http://tramper.co.nz/?2429 really fantastic. Has you going up behind little cliffs and rock pools, squeezing through little gaps in rocks, trudging through the bush. Will completely destroy you but you will feel amazing for it. However, it has been removed off most tramping maps I believe because they can't fly helicopters in to rescue you. So if you break a leg you are stuck waiting till people can carry you out, not for the fainthearted this one.

Views

 * Tawharanui up north is worth checking out, it's about an hour from central AKL and you can stop in at the small town of Matakana which has an amazing Bakery and a few shops etc.
 * If I have friends visiting Auckland from overseas, I wait for good weather and get them over to Waiheke Island. Rent a couple scooters, zip around the island, maybe visit a winery or two or just go to a cafe, little picnic at the beach...It feels like we got to the idyllic version of New Zealand without having to travel very far.
 * North Head and Waiheke are favourite recommendations of mine...
 * I think Pt Chevalier is frickin awesome, but I do live here so I'm kinda biased
 * Tiritiri Matangi Island is a little way outta Auckland but not too bad, and is just a fantastic place to see all of our precious ratites in action. So much better than the Zoo, get out on an Island and see these little bastards in action.
 * Going onto the shore side of the bridge, there is a little road that takes you right under the bridge. It's a dingy spot but probably one of the best views of the city at night on a nice day.Google maps sulphur beach road .. Photo uploaded to googlemaps from the spot I'm talking Very few people seem to know about it, my girlfriend had no idea the place existed and we've both lived shoreside the majority of our lives.. problem is you get a few kids out that way at night drinking and smoking .. but if you ignore them, theyll ignore you.
 * Rangitoto Island
 * Going up any of the mountains (Mt Eden, Mt Albert, One Tree Hill etc)

What are some good tourist attractions in Auckland?

 * Waiheke Island is a good in the summer
 * Other islands worth a visit by ferry: Rangitoto Auckland's most recent volcano, Tiritirimatangi a bird sanctuary, Great Barrier Island a long way away, but people live there and it's pretty wild.
 * Ponsonby or Parnell for boozing
 * West coast (Piha, Te Henga/Bethells Beach, Karekare) for black sand beaches
 * East coast (Cheltenham, Mission Bay, St Heliers, Long Bay, Mairangi Bay) for white sand beaches
 * The museum has some beautiful Polynesian and Maori artifacts, and sits in the large Domain park
 * Bush walks in the Waitakere ranges
 * Auckland Art Gallery
 * Climb Mount Eden, an extinct volcanic cone with an impressive crater
 * Cornwall park and One Tree Hill are very pretty, particularly in Spring
 * Hallertau (brew bar) out in Riverhead is an awesome place for a afternoon drive, [good] pint and a nice meal.
 * Catch a 'Red Boat' to the Riverhead Tavern. Leaves from Zed Pier in the viaduct and it's a lovely 1.5 hour boat ride up the habour to the tavern. 2 hours to have a pub meal and a few beers and then back again on the boat.