With summer quickly approaching, it’ll be the optimum time to get out and explore the city and get a little exercise at the same time! Like the rest of the county, Auckland has been transforming over the past decade to accommodate cyclists and utilizing its popularity to get people exploring the city in new and inventive ways and to locations that cant be reached by car. Here are a few of our favorite tracks to help get you excited:
Te Ara I Whiti – Lightpath
We start off the list with one of the newest paths and easily one of the most famous – the lightpath. This one’s great to impress the kids and to get them excited about cycling, it’s also Auckland’s most ambitious cycle path to date –
Starting at Upper Queen and twisting around the city center, it makes for an easy ride, and one where you can easily stop to check out hot-spots in the city such as K Road and Silo Park.
Woodhill Forest
One for all the adventure seekers out there, for the daredevils who like to get down and dirty in the mud, this track is for the mountain bikers out there.
Riding fast down steep hills in the forest and attempting not to break another bone is one thing, riding through the forest on a path that has twists and turns and the odd jump if you dare is another. Woodhill Forest caters for both and would have to be one of the most accessible selection of mountain biking tracks in the city.
Britomart – Half Moon Bay – Auckland CBD
Another ride that is for the more experienced, and very popular with groups, head from Britomart along Tamaki Drive towards Mission Bay and basically just keep going as you follow the shoreline past St Heliers, along Riddell Road and take a left onto Roberta Ave once you get through Glendowie. Follow your nose – or the trusty Google Maps – towards Point England Reserve all of the way down to the water at Lagon Drive near the Panmure Basin. From there cross over the water and follow the shore line left all the way past the Pakuranga Sailing Club and down and around until you make to the Half Moon Bay ferry terminal. It’s a great Sunday dedicated ride, but well worth the reward if you can commit!
Waiheke Island
Jump on the ferry with your bike at no extra cost, or hire a bike once you hit land and step onto the wharf (Hiring a bike means you’ll get all the comforts of a mountain bike and can have a trusty little map mounted to the handle bars, how’s that for convenience?) There are also great maps available to help you find your way around and if you plan out your day in advance you can make sure to take the right paths to lead you to wherever your heart desires, be that an art gallery, beach or vineyard. The ‘Beach/Wine Lovers Trail’ will take you about three and a half hours through the vines to Onetangi and once again is one of those rides that can end in a swim if you so desire. Further rides include the Easy Life Loop, Nature Trail, Stony Batter Trail and the Rangihou Mountain Bike Track.
New Zealand has seen in the past five years a resurgence in our music scene, if you are visiting from overseas, or even from a smaller town in the country, you will have the opportunity to catch some of these acts, performers that lay beyond our staple icons in the industry. Auckland has become a hub for great talent, with new venues popping up in the central city there is usually a great show to catch each night in the city! We have put together a small list of our favourite acts worth catching!
The Beths
The Beths are easily the next big thing in New Zealand, the four piece have seen a huge rise in popularity in the last year, with their debut album, Future Me Hates Me, being heralded as one of the year’s stand-out music releases, receiving praise from a myriad of respected publications such as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone and Band Camp, and gaining worldwide radio airplay. The band mixes the popular indie rock genre that has been popular over the last five years with a true-blue kiwi flair, their songs are upbeat and made for summer roadtrips.
They are just as endearing live, with their shows usually selling out and getting crowds jumping and bopping along to the catchy hooks – you only need to hear the chorus to most of their songs once to have them permanently engraved in your minds! After selling out shows across Australia, North America, the UK and Europe in 2018/19 the band will be returning to New Zealand later this year for a short run of ‘homecoming’ shows – the last chance to witness The Beths on their Future Me Hates Me album cycle.
Benee
Benee burst into the local music scene in late 2017, with the enigmatic debut single ‘Tough Guy’, which boasted cliff-diving guitars, synth bass and infectious melodies backed with a production credit from Josh Fountain at Golden Age and has since been on the rise!
Benee has gone on to perform at Laneway Festival, Spark Arena with Lily Allen, and join the Aroha Nui line up, all the while receiving rave reviews for her “fun and charismatic” live persona. If you manage to catch one of her live shows, try grab a ticket because they tend to sell out fast!
Shaun’s Birthday
A little more underground and unknown than the rest of the acts on this list, Shaun’s Birthday (or b-day) have quickly earnt a reputation for their energetic live shows, catchy choruses and erratic dance moves which have gained them opening slots for some of Australia’s best indie rock bands such as Skegss, Dune Rats and The Chats.
It’s a great time to catch this live act before the break into the big time, they can usually be found playing shows on the K Road strip, or if you’re in Auckland in September you’ll be able to catch lead guitarist Shaun’s actual birthday, which includes a line-up of the cities best indie rock bands in one night!
We have well past the half way mark of 2019 and now we begin the slow journey into summer! But although the winter chill is stills ticking around for another couple of months, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get out and make the most of what the city has to offer, especially when it’s jam packed full of ways to keep the body warm and the mind entertained!
Here’s what’s on this August:
Dining In The Dark
You may have seen this one plastered over facebook in the last few years, a dining experience with a difference! Dans le Noir? (French for “In the Dark?”) is an international company offering patrons a unique experience by eating in complete darkness, guided and served by low vision or blind people. More than 1.5 million people have already lived this experience worldwide.
Running each week I August from Thursday to Saturday at the Rydges Auckland, surprise your senses as never before! Enjoy a unique sensory experience, thanks to our famous surprise menus in three different versions assisted by unexpected guides!
It’s an exciting way to eat out in the city and one that will sure stick around in your mind afterwards! Bookings are essential so be sure to get in ahead of time.
DARTZ – No Matter Whatz Winter Tour
The Poneke Party Punk outfit that has been making waves in their native city after a well-received opening slot for Australian shed-rockers The Chats are finally heading out on tour in support of their debut EP, No Matter Whatz.
The band has made a quick reputation for their highly energetic live shows that you just keep your eyes off, you’ll find yourself humming their tunes in the days after, and be sure to keep an eye out for their merch, zines and other schemes they bring to their shows!
Supporting them in Auckland is Shaun’s Birthday, a punk trio who has seen success in the last year opening for a range of international acts, including Skegss and Hockey Dad. These two bands have a big history together so we’re sure they’ll put on an un-missible night!
Good Vibes
Spawining out of the successful reggae and roots festival One Love, this warm-up party is hitting the road and making a stop in Auckland to bring those great summer vibes early!
And the line up is jam-packed with Kiwi favourites and some new faces, including Katchafire, L.A.B, Tomorrow People and 1814 alongside international acts Josh Wawa, LaTasha Lee, and local rising star, Lion Rezz. Youth sensation, General Fiyah and international reggae stars, Paua.
If you want to escape winter for a night and start day-dreaming about summer, this will be a can’t-miss night out!
Dope Lemon
Hot off the release of their second studio album, Smooth Big Cat, Dope Lemon return to the stage, and to Auckland, for their first headline tour in three years this August. They invite you to step into real the world of Angus Stone – a dream zone layered with melty moments, mischief and romance.
Another act that is well known for encompassing those sweet summer vibes, Dope Lemon have catapulted to success after their debut, Honey Bones, quickly shot up the streaming charts in 2016, if you haven’t had a chance to catch what all the buzz is about, this is your opportunity to get out on the dance floor and take in the swagger-drench tunes.
