What we love about Auckland: Tourist life

Alexis Rebours and Caroline Claudon visit the gannet colony at Muriwai Beach.

We continue our series showcasing the best Auckland has to offer, talking to people from different walks of life about what they like about living in the city. Today we ask a French touring couple about their thoughts on the city.

French tourists Caroline Claudon and Alexis Rebours chose Auckland to begin their working holiday but a clean break from big cities was what they hoped for.

A good place to shop for a van, which would serve a month's camping tour of New Zealand, was the city's first attraction for Ms Claudon, from the city of Le Mans, the home of the 24-hour sports car race.

The 22-year-old communications student had come from a working visit to Chicago in the United States while her partner, Alexis, aged 24, was working as a mechanical engineer in Angers, a medieval river city in western France.

Rebours said he came to improve his English, "which is why I move as far away from French to do that".

While they shopped for a van and camping equipment, they stayed with a North Shore family who suggested the couple should see some of Auckland's natural attractions before they headed south.

The first stop was the gannet colony at Muriwai Beach, on the rugged west coast of Auckland.

"We followed the track to get to the rock where the birds are. We took picture with the birds because we never seen a colony like that with so many birds in one place, " said Alexis.

"We went down to the flat rocks and walked on the beach. It was very beautiful."

Later, the couple viewed Auckland City and Waitemata Harbour from the top of Mt Eden-Maungawhau and watched the tide rushing past at Birkenhead Wharf.

A visit to Le Roys Bush in Birkenhead was, he said, "very nice - it was the best situation".

He said it was a taster for what he hoped to see in the next part of the trip "very good forests".

Ms Claudon said that when travelling in France she always came to big cities, which she liked, but now she wanted to try something different.

"I was dreaming about coming here to discover the countryside and beautiful beaches without anyone there.

"But we really like Auckland - it is like a melting pot of people from everywhere and I like that because people take time to talk to you."

The couple headed off to do the great back country walking tracks but on their return are keen to sample the city's eateries, particularly for Japanese and Thai food.

Auckland was named the friendliest city in the world by Conde Nast Traveller after a readership survey.

The magazine said the city's people were friendly and their humour and view on life was inspiring,

Auckland was also named one of the top 10 cities in the world to visit in Lonely Planet's 2014 Best in Travel Guide. The city is also ranked the third most liveable in the 2014 Mercer Quality of Life Survey.

Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development says some of its research shows city or urban experiences are most strongly associated with Auckland, followed by food and wine, concerts and events, as well as water activities and sports.

This fits well with Auckland's proposition as New Zealand's foremost international urban centre.

The Sky Tower remains the iconic feature which visitors think of first when prompted. Waitemata Harbour is the second-most thought of feature.

A new aid for visitors is Heart of the City's WHERE NEXT app, which suggests five things to do and places to eat based on your location in the central city. It is free to download from the app store or Google Play.