Live cameras in Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland is New Zealand's largest city, home to about 1.55 million people in its urban area. It sprawls across a narrow isthmus on the North Island, with the Waitematā Harbour opening to the Hauraki Gulf on the northeast side and the broad, shallow Manukau Harbour facing the Tasman Sea to the southwest. At its narrowest the land between the two waters is less than two kilometers wide. Dozens of small extinct volcanoes dot the city, among them Maungawhau (Mount Eden) and Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill), and Rangitoto Island rises from the gulf as the youngest of them all. The Sky Tower, the waterfront at Viaduct Harbour and the curve of the Harbour Bridge define the central skyline.

What the cameras show

The cameras on this page come from NZTA Waka Kotahi, the national transport agency, which watches the state highway network. They send still pictures on a short cycle of a few minutes rather than streaming video. In Auckland they cover the motorway system that carries the city's heavy car traffic: State Highway 1, which runs north over the Harbour Bridge and south along the Southern Motorway, State Highway 16 heading northwest, and State Highway 20 with the Waterview Tunnel linking the west and south. Views of ramps, tunnel portals and the bridge approaches make it easy to see where congestion is building.

Auckland keeps New Zealand Standard Time, twelve hours ahead of UTC, and moves to daylight time from late September until early April. Weekday peaks typically run from about seven to nine in the morning and from four to six thirty in the evening, and the Harbour Bridge is often the slowest point. The climate is mild and humid; snow almost never falls, but sudden subtropical downpours, especially in late summer, can bring surface flooding. Summer evenings stay light until well past eight thirty.

For other views on the map, the South Auckland hub of Manukau has its own page near the airport, and the ferry terminal downtown links the city to Waiheke Island and Devonport.

Sources: Auckland - Wikipedia · NZTA Waka Kotahi traffic and travel · Auckland Volcanic Field - Wikipedia.