From Wikitravel

Waitakere City is a local authority area that forms the western part of the Auckland metropolitan area of the North Island of New Zealand. Colloquially it is referred to as West Auckland and its inhabitants as Westies.

[edit] Understand

Geography Waitakere City has a land area of 367km2, with the urban area being 25.8km2. With a population as at the 2006 Census of 194'000, giving it a population density of 533 people per square kilometre overall. 39% of the population are less than 24 years of age.

Ethnicity In the reigion 71.9% of people are of European decent, 14.5% of Pacific Island, 11.0% Asian and 11.0% Maori, with 68% born in New Zealand.

Lauguage While English is spoken by the majority of residents, Samoan is the next most common language with 5.7% of people speaking it, followed by Maori at 4.5%.

Employment The average annual wage for a Waitakere resident is $20'800, higher than the national average of $18'500. 28.9% of people have some form of tertiary education, but 26.6% leave school with no formal qualifications, these are both lower than national averages. Unemployment is currently running at about 8.3%. The majority of the population who work in Waitakere work in manufacturing around 10% or so, followed by retail at around 8%. The most common job title overall is 'clerk' with 20% of the population employed in a variety of industries.

[edit] Get around

Waitakere City is best seen by car. Although Buses and Trains do service the area, many are slow and serve more those living in the suburbs as opposed to those looking to see sites. Having your own car also allows you to stop and take in some of the many wonderful sites you will see and want to photograph on the way.

[edit][add listing] See

If you are only visiting Auckland or the North Island, Waitakere can show you all the native delights, like trees, bushes and flowers that make New Zealand unique.

Waitakere City houses some of New Zealands best wineries. These can be found in two main areas, Henderson Valley and Kumeu. In summer, on weekends, these will be packed with those looking to sit in the sun, have a bottle of wine and a relaxed late lunch. On Sundays Pleasent Valley on Henderson Valley road can be a good afternoon, often having live music. Other Vineyards in the area include Delagats and Montana, although these are much harder to find and do not have regular food service.

Another Micro Winery in the area is Artisans on Parrs Cross Road, here you can sample a variety of wines made and sold on site. You can stroll through the vineyards or look at the onsite gallery that sells a range of artwork, knick-knacks and toys made by local artists, they also have a well priced and tasty breakfast and lunch menu.

The Kumeu area, makes for a wonderful day trip. Follow the North-Western motorway to the end and take state highway 16 to Kumeu. Within 10-15 minutes you will start to see a vineyards that have cafes and immaculate gardens. Stop for lunch before heading further on to Muriwai Beach, vineyards include, Coopers Creek, Soljans and Kumeu River. Muriwai Beach is even more rugged and more natural and less unrbanised than Piha. It is a huge black sand beach that stretches as far as the eye can see (it infact does not stop until the kaipara harbour). The south head houses cabins and a camp ground, an ice cream shop and a fish and chip shop, as well as the main beach and the life guards tower. The north end is dominated by those in 4X4's and dirt bikes.

Further up Muriwai, in the forest there is a bike park where many children learn how to ride on tracks amongst the trees. The entrance to this can be found approx. 10 minutes further on state highway 16 after the beach turnoff. Other activities in the area include BMX trails and racing and a huge high ropes course set in the forest called Tree Adventures (bookings recommended) there are 8 courses to do and it can take 2-4 hours depending or your skill and fitness.

On your way back down to Central Auckland stop at some of the fruit shops for a wonderful selection of fresh seasonal produce. When strawberries are in high season, 3 punnets will often only set you back $5, for rich and sweet local strawberries.

Another attraction popular with tour groups it Arataki Visitors Centre on Scenic Drive, Titirangi. Around the centre there are nature trails which signpost the native trees and birds found in the area. Trails range from 10 minutes to 4-5 hours and are all fully pathed and signposted. The centre itself features models, history and facts of native birds and the surrounding area. The view from scenic drive is amazing, the west coast one side and the city the other. The site has photo frames onsite so you can capture yourself in the best views available.

[edit][add listing] Do

• Waitakere Ranges, The Waitakere Ranges are Auckland’s best kept secret. With stunning waterfalls breath taking views and rugged but beautiful beaches. This is a slice of paradise not to be missed.
• Hiking in the Waitakere Ranges
• The west coast beaches, such as Piha Beach , offer sand, surf and are popular for swimming, though dangerous for the unwary, with surf that changes with the tides, unpredictable deep holes, undertows and rips. Wherever possible, swim between the red and yellow flags and pay attention to the lifeguards on duty.

If the weather is not so good try the Waitakere Aquatic centre (Alderman Drive, Henderson). Home of the 1992 Commonwealth Games competition pools, they have been though major expansion and renovation over the past 3 years. Now the complex consists of 2 x 50m 8 lane pools, a drive pool with 9 boards, a hydroslide, 2 toddlers pools, spa, sauna, steam room facilities, a lazy river and a wave pool. There is also an onsite gym and a cafe, entry is $6.50 Adults, $4 Children.

[edit][add listing] Buy

West Coast Gallery, in Piha, [1]. Well worth it. Housed in their old fire station.

[edit][add listing] Eat

Any and every type of food can be had in West Auckland. Great North Road, which runs through alot of Waitakere, has many hot spots for good food. In the New Lynn stretch, you can find many cafes and sandwich bars, as well as the most popular restaurant LoneStar, which serves mainly American/South American Style food in massive portions, mains $25-30. They also have the tasiest cheesecake ever invented, kaluha and mars bar, served with chocolate sauce and cream, well worth the $13.

The next hub, Kelston, doesn't really have anything special except a Halal butcher.

Continuing on to Glendene, you can find excellent kebabs, roast dinners and lovely homemade pizza, as well as gourmet burgers(expensive but good) and a regular fish and chip shop, the bakery behind the shops has the best chicken sandwiches out west and the best chocolate chip shortcake caramel slice ever its $1.50 and simply devine. Last stop on Great North Road is Henderson. Here you will find excellent thai takeaway (main & rice $10-13), a vegetarian Vietnamese restaurant at the far end. Up by the bridge and the bus stop you can find a great fish and chip shop where you can get chips, fish and a hotdog on a stick for $5 (the chips are the best in the west). Next door there is a chinese help yourself take away boxes for $5 which are plenty big enough.

Te Atatu Peninsula, has the only 24 hour kumara (sweet potato) chips and roast chicken in Waitakere. Hadads on the main road has chicken, fish and chips and kebabs. Further past the round about there is an excellent ice cream parlour where a double scoop of locally made ice cream will set you back about $2.20, 5 scoops around $3.70, milkshakes $3. These should be taken in the car and then head down to the beach (2 mins away). You can then sit in the car or walk around the reserve. This looks back un-interupted across the harbour to the city, which on a Sunday day is very beautiful.

[edit][add listing] Drink

There are not a huge ammount of places to drink in Waitakere. Obviously there are local bars and pubs, but really nothing significant. Most in need of a drink head to more central places or tend to drink at home with friends. An interesting pub in Glendene called the Thirsty Rooster has some Colin McCann Art work, namely because his son drinks there, besides that if your after a drink its best be had with dinner.

Another aspect of Waitakere City is that liquor licencing is controlled by two trusts the Portage and the Waitakere. This means that everyone who sells alcohol must be registered by either one. You cannot buy beer or wine in the supermarket unlike the rest of Auckland. The trusts are non-profit organisation that reinvest the taxes on alcohol back into the local communities, schools, parks and sports teams. Although this is obviously less convenient, the local referendum always supports the trusts as they would prefer money going back into the community and not into supermarkets profits (lower prices, lower margins, less levied for the community). This does not mean that its more expensive to buy alcohol, but it is more controlled and hours are more restrictive. Another argument for this is that there is more control over young people buying alcohol and in attempt to reduce under-age drinking.

[edit][add listing] Sleep

A visit to Waitakere would not be complete without a visit to Piha Beach. There are no Hotels or Motels in Piha however there are a few private accommodation providers.

Try the Kauri Suite (top quality), Tui Suite (Mid range) or Beach Cabin (Budget) here: [2]

[edit] Get out

Most parts of Waitakere are very central to the rest of Auckland. Auckland Airport can be reached in off-peak times in about 40 minutes heading through Hillsbourough Road. The North Shore can also be reached via Upper Harbour drive without the need for the Harbour Bridge. The Waitakere City Council Offices can reach Downtown Auckland Off-Peak in around 20 minutes only being 18km away from Union Street via the North-Western Motorway.

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