Image via WikipediaAucklandTamaki - makau - rau
Imagine an urban environment where everybody lives within a half an hour of beautiful beaches, hiking trails and a dozen enchanted holiday isles. Add a sunny climate, a background rhythm of Polynesian culture and a passion for outstanding food, wine and shopping - you're beginning to get the picture of...Auckland.
In the Maori language Auckland is known as Tamaki - Makau - rau, 'the maiden with a hundred suitors'. It earned this because it was the region covered by so many tribes.
That is the tourist story - but the recently amalgamated Auckland super city is home to 1.2 million people, living, working, and playing - a vibrant multicultural mix of "tribes" from around the globe. It is also New Zealand's largest city and the commercial and industrial centre of the country.
The newly elected mayor, Len Brown, wants Auckland to become the most liveable city in the world.
