A half-day tour of Auckland made me see the city with new eyes, but I do wonder how much of what visitors are told is exaggerated.
I was booked on the "Best City Tour" run by Absolute Tours yesterday as a tourist from Singapore, and was picked up in a 2003 Holden Commodore by owner operator Terry Buckley, who describes himself as a "true blue Aucklander".
"I can tell you everything you want to know about Auckland ... if I don't know about it, then it really didn't happen," he said.
Driving along Tamaki Drive, Mr Buckley was recommending the best of Auckland's offerings - including pohutukawa honey and breakfast at Cafe on Kohi - with a passion.
He told me he lived on the North Shore, and from the beaches there he could see dolphins, sharks and once a whale and her calf. What he didn't know was that I live in a neighbouring suburb, and in more than a decade never have I seen such creatures "swimming around" the coast.
