About Auckland...

There are few scenarios whereby you are asked to leave a country for five days, but this was one of them. Australian immigration didn't care where I went, I just couldn't be in Australia while they finalised my visa. This presented a rare opportunity for me to punch some dates into Skyscanner and pick a destination at random so, 11 days later, I found myself in Auckland. You can't throw a stick in the air here without it landing on a volcano, the tiny lanes hide micro-treasures and the city looks out onto a harbour filled with curious-looking islands. Here's what I discovered about Auckland.

Leaving a rather envious Elle in Sydney, I checked myself into Attic Backpackers on Wellesley Street to keep things budget. At NZ$34 a night for a six-person dorm it was affordable and quirky in a contemporary kind of way. The rooms are basic, but it's the communal areas that really make this place. There's a large kitchen on hand for those who want to cook for themselves, plus a balcony and a couple of bean-bag filled lounge areas. All in all, a solid base for Auckland exploration.

The Caffeine Scene

First things first, where to get my caffeine fix? Kiwis put a lot of stock in their coffee and from what I experienced this isn't just hype. Over my five day stay I became attached to two in particular. Remedy on Wellesley and Alleluya Bar & Cafe in St Kevin's Arcade.

Remedy: Charmingly compact, this laid back setup features music to mellow your morning in a space where kitsch is key. Focusing on doing the basics well, it's an inviting place to make yourself comfortable and flick through something from the book swap.

Alleluya Bar & Cafe: Beautifully dishevelled and scattered with mismatched furniture below a glass ceiling, when things get overcast, this is a great place to hold up and watch the clouds bluster past the Sky Tower. The food isn't mind-blowing, but the setting and staff more than make up for it.

Waiheke Island

Just a 40 minute ferry ride from Auckland Ferry Terminal, Waiheke island is home to 8,000 people, 30 vineyards and numerous camera-friendly beaches. Teaming up with a fellow backpacker from my hostel, I paid $55 for a return ferry ride, 1.5 hour island tour and unlimited bus use on the island. After a refreshing boat ride over, we climbed on a tour bus with an extremely cheerful local at the wheel. The tour worked well as a Waiheke intro and, as the 2nd biggest of 40 islands in the Hauraki Gulf, it was handy to be driven around the key spots before being left to our own devices.

Once off the bus it was time to hit up some cellar doors for some all too inevitable wine tasting. Opting to stroll to a couple of closer wineries, we headed to the impressively situated Mudbrook and Cable Bay vineyards. Paying around $15 per tasting, the samples went down far too easily thanks in no small part to the vistas that regularly included glimpses back to Auckland city. I'm phenomenally ignorant when it comes to wine, so I took the opportunity to ask some questions about reserve wines and tannins, whilst practising a dramatic wine swill and throwing out words like "oaky" and "acidic". From the look on the faces of the bar staff, I was completely off the mark.

Not purely about the wine, we also got the chance to check out the quaint parade on Ocean View Road, patterned with colourful shop fronts and even more colourful locals. Whilst making our way back to the ferry, it crossed my mind that this would be an ideal place to rent a beach house with a large group, grab a bus pass and see how many of Waiheke's vineyards you can tick off over a weekend.

Mount Eden

Rising up incongruously from its urban surroundings, Mt Eden is Auckland city's highest volcano at just under 200m. Walking from downtown takes about 45 minutes and once you reach the summit you're rewarded with panoramic views of New Zealand's largest city. It's also hard to miss the giant, 50m deep crater that tops it. Dormant? I bloody hope so. Otherwise this is an odd place to build a suburb.

Getting vertical in the Sky Tower

I'm not sure if it's the views or the head spins that I enjoy most about being high up, but the Sky Tower has both at 186m straight up. I must have been up there for two hours as I lapped the tower, spotting rainbows, volcanoes and city landmarks. It didn't hurt that some dramatic weather was rolling by, interspersed with sunny bursts and downpours. At $28 it's the best view in town and features a simple cafe/bar and Skywalk/abseiling options for those who want to really take their vertigo for a spin.

Aimless wanderings

Finally, wandering at will was consistently rewarding. Small lanes make a web of the larger streets and lead you through charming parks, past boutique shops and, often times, into rustic restaurants. Real Groovy, a blast from the past record store, is an easy distance from the elegant op shops of Karangahape Road and from there Albert Park, with the adjacent University Clock Tower, is just a brief stroll up Mayoral Drive. Even without a map, you'd probably stumble across these places regardless, including a trip to Halsey Street Wharf, where some reclaimed industrial space lies in wait for hungry foreigners who've worked up an appetite.

Three days will hit the spot

With vantage points galore and some keen eating spots, you'd be able to comfortably cover Auckland's highlights in three days. Anymore and you'll probably want to head further afield to Rotarua or the north shore beaches, rather than retrace your steps downtown. As cities go, it's modest and won't be a culinary jackpot, but what it does, it does well with the unique addition of 50 or so volcanoes in varying states of activity.