One Day in Auckland Trivia Quiz

Answer: Top half of the North Island on an isthmus between two harbours

The North Island of New Zealand is the 14th largest island in the world (the South Island is the 12th) and is 1070 km long. In 2017, of the 3.6 million people that lived on the North Island 1.65 million lived in Auckland, the largest city by far. (A total of 4.6 million in New Zealand). Auckland lies on an isthmus between the Hauraki Gulf of the Pacific Ocean to the east which includes Waitemata Harbour which bisects the city, and the Manukau Harbour to the south-west which opens onto the west coast.
Christchurch, the second largest city is located on the mid-east coast of the South Island.
Wellington, the capital and third largest city, is situated on the southern tip of the North Island.
Hamilton, New Zealand's fourth largest and largest inland city is located on the Waikato River approximately 125 km south of Auckland.

Answer: True

The city straddles the Auckland volcanic field which is still active. In fact Auckland is the only city in the world built on an active basaltic volcanic field. There have been an estimated nearly 100 volcanic eruptions from 50 volcanoes in the last 100,000 years.

The volcanos now are extinct but the volcanic field is dormant. The hilly nature of the Auckland landscape and its many water inlets are due primarily to volcanic activity in the recent past. Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island in the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland, New Zealand.

The 5.5 km wide island is less than 5000 years old. It is a widely visible landmark of Auckland. It has a distinctive symmetrical shield volcano cone that rises 260 metres (850 ft) and guards the harbour on the Hauraki Gulf.

Answer: City of Sails

The "City of Sails" is due to the many different water craft seen on Auckland's many waterways. Boat ownership is the highest here in all of New Zealand. Possibly elitist sounding, it has been criticised especially when home ownership in Auckland is getting more and more unaffordable.

Some other slogans promoting the city include: "Auckland A"; "Big Little City"; "The Show That Never Stops", the "World's Most Liveable City" and "A Place Desired By Many". Only the "City of Sails" seems to have stuck.

Answer: Yes

Sky Tower was the tallest structure in New Zealand by total height at 328 metres (1,076 ft) when it was built in 1994-1997. The Sydney Centrepoint Tower stands a mere 309 m (1,014 ft) though the observation deck of the latter is higher at 268 m (879 ft) compared with Auckland's located 220 m (720 ft) from the ground. There is a revolving restaurant on the Sky Tower. The tower also features the "SkyJump", a 192-metre (630 ft) jump from the observation deck, to the ground below reaching up to 85 km/hr.

Answer: Nippon clip-ons

The Auckland Harbour Bridge opened in 1959 with four lanes of traffic but no rail, cycle or pedestrian access. While the first bridge crossing of the harbour had been mooted for a hundred years, the 1,020 metres (3,350 ft) bridge with the longest span being 243.8 metres (800 ft), there was criticism it mimicked the Sydney Harbour Bridge though it was a box truss construction not a steel arch bridge.

At the time of opening the population of the North shore was only around 50 000 but the bridge facilitated rapid growth as it then offered proximity to the city centre. Traffic grew rapidly so much that the four lane bridge had to be expanded to eight lanes, which created the affectionate moniker of "Nippon clip-ons".

In 2016 approval was given to add another clip-on to allow pedestrian and cycle access.

Answer: Black sand

The entire west coast of New Zealand is rugged country. Piha and Kare Kare are small sparsely populated beach towns on the coast separated from urban Auckland by the Waitakere Ranges. The beaches in the area are popular day-trip destinations for Aucklanders. Besides the prominent Lion Rock (a 16 million year old volcanic neck) which if climbed, affords glorious views of the area, the other distinguishing feature is the black sand beaches, the colour due to the high iron content, which had a volcanic origin. Both Kare Kare and Lion Rock feature in the music of Neil Finn and Crowded House.

Answer: Wine

Waiheke is the second-largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, after Great Barrier Island, and is the most populated island in the gulf, It has over 9,000 permanent residents and a further 3000 New Zealanders have holiday homes there. It is approximately 21 km or 13 miles from Auckland with regular ferries taking 35 minutes to reach the island.

The island is part of the Auckland Council and is close to self-sufficient in terms of infra-structure.

Answer: Auckland War Memorial Museum

The Auckland Domain is 75 hectares in size and occupies the explosion crater of the Pukekawa volcano. Within the grounds, the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira (also known as the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums. Concentrating on New Zealand natural and military history, the building is one of the few remaining in Auckland built in the neo-classicist style of the mid-19th century. It was opened in 1929.

The Museum of Transport and Technology is an interactive specialist museum on the west side of the city.
Te Papa Tongarewa is the premier NZ museum and is situated in Wellington.
Quake City is a confronting exhibit about the 2010-11 Christchurch earthquakes within the Canterbury Museum in the same city.

Answer: The "One Tree" of its name is thought to be over 1000 years old

One Tree Hill or more correctly Maungakiekie (its original Maori name) is a 182-metre (597 ft) volcanic peak in southern Auckland. It is an important site for both Maori and Non-Maori New Zealanders. On top of the hill stands an obelisk, a memorial to Maori.

The stone obelisk was designed by Richard Abbot and was completed in 1940. However the unveiling was delayed until 1948 after World War II as there is a Maori custom of not holding ceremonies during a time of bloodshed. U2 did indeed write a song about this One Tree Hill and the TV series was based on the U2 song.

The one tree was chopped down in 1852, whether for firewood or as an act of violence is not known. Subsequent trees grown as replacements were cut down in 1960 and 1994, the latter as a Maori protest.

Answer: National Rugby Union team

Rugby Union is the national sport of New Zealand and the national team is the All Blacks after the colour of their uniform. They are most successful national Rugby Union side of all time: when they won the World Cup in 2015, they were the first team to win it three times.

The team has been so successful other NZ national sporting teams tend to have nicknames that are derivatives of All Blacks: The national men's basketball team is called the Tall Blacks, the soccer team is called the All Whites (as black uniforms are reserved for referees) and the cricket team is called the Black Caps. When the NZ Rugby Union team won the World Cup in 2011, Air New Zealand which normally has white aeroplanes, painted its flagship, a 777-300ER Boeing all black (pictured) to commemorate the occasion.