Tamaki Drive is one of Auckland’s most distinctive features – a waterside drive that provide a place where locals and visitors alike can go to take in the sea air, relax and enjoy the view.
This 10 kilometre stretch of road follows the coastline from the ferry terminal at the foot of the business district out past Mechanic’s Bay, Takaparawha, Orakei, Mission Bay, Kohimarama and onto St Heliers. Over the next few weeks, this snaking trip from bustling city centre to swanky suburbs will be made even more enjoyable by the deep red flowers of the pohutukawa, New Zealand’s ‘Christmas’ tree.
The seaward view is of Waitemata Harbour, its islands and the seemingly numberless boats and yachts lying at anchors or moored at crowded marinas. Steep cliffs inland, the sites of Maori pa in days gone by, slide down to meet the road at Mission Bay, Kohimarama and St Heliers Bay, offering a perch for exclusive homes, well appointed public beaches and popular cafés and restaurants catering for most tastes and budgets.
Depending on the season, the drive is peppered with all manner of diversions from stalls selling strawberries and seafood and triathletes competing in the bays to seafarers preparing their craft and tourists lining up to take in Kelly Tarlton’s Antarctic Encounter & Underwater World.
Whether you’re cruising with your mates, rollerblading with your dog, training for the Auckland Marathon (which incorporates the drive in its route) or simply strolling with the family, Tamaki Drive is a perennial favourite.
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