Welcome to Tamaki

Makaurau. This is not the Auckland of news headlines but of beauty and nature, of rich Maori and European history, quiet beaches and raucous markets. Its glory is in the variation across this region, stretching from Mangere Bridge in the west, south to Papakura and the Hunua Ranges, east to the Maraetai Coast and north to Manukau and Otara. The uneven, green-hilled landscape has been shaped and moulded by volcanic activity, and the social landscape has proved just as malleable. New arrivals stamp their mark and the face of Auckland is constantly changing. Immigration has provided the bright crayons to fill the spaces of Auckland’s blank colouring book. Following changes to immigration law in the 1970s, suburbs in both South and East Auckland grew in the numbers of Asian, Indian and Pacific Island residents (in 2013, 48.4% of Auckland residents identified as Asian, Pacific Islander or Maori) and have become much more vibrant for it. However, as with all cities experiencing strong population growth, the demographic makeup of the regions is constantly changing. First-home buyers today are just as likely to be grabbing their weekly fruit and vegetables from the Otara Market, or the Clevedon Farmers' Market, than an inner-city supermarket. Where South Auckland teems with flavour, nearby East Auckland is where both visitors and locals can disappear for a few days of escape from the city noise by leaping into a kayak and paddling into the sunset, or heaving on a pack complete with tent and hiking boots to go bush in the Hunua Ranges – and still be back in the office in a shirt and tie Monday.