What is Auckland Anniversary? As you can probably tell from the title of our website – we love living in Auckland – especially with the weather we are having right now. We are guessing you do too and will even more so when we celebrate Auckland Anniversary Day with a public holiday. But just what is Auckland Anniversary?

Auckland Anniversary is an annual holiday celebrated on the Monday closest to the 29^th January which coincides with the anniversary of William Hobsons arrival in the Bay of Islands in 1840 – this is also why the holiday is known as Northland Anniversary Day. William Hobson was the first Govenor of New Zealand and also co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi. Hobsonville gets its namesake from William Hobson which is particularly apt this year as Hobsonville Point is one of Auckland’s newest suburbs.

Interestingly, the date of the 29^th January is odd as Hobson declared British Sovereignty the 30^th January 1840. This agitated Daniel Pollen who was New Zealand’s Premier for 2 years (1875-1876) enough to try and have the date shifted by a day. On the 11^th September 1894 the joint committee of the Legislative Council and House of Representatives recommended the date of the anniversary be shifted however the Liberal Government said no and it appears the matter was dropped. Regardless, we are grateful to still have this public holiday 179 years later.

To celebrate, here are 10 Auckland Facts:

1. The Auckland Anniversary Regatta which is also the largest one day regatta worldwide is held during this long weekend. You can find out more and where to view the race here.
2. At it’s narrowest point, Auckland is less than 2km’s wide – this is between the Māngere Inlet and Tamaki River.
3. Each year there are about 40,000 more cars out on Auckland’s roads.
4. In June 2018, Statistics New Zealand estimated Auckland Metropolitan population at 1,628,900 – 33.3% of the country’s entire population.
5. Auckland has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world.
6. Auckland Council recognises 19 local iwi authorities.
7. Auckland has its own Coat of Arms – you can check it out here.
8. Between 1853 and 1976 New Zealand had Superintendents who were elected as the head of each Provincial Council – Auckland had 9 in total with John Williamson serving 3 times.
9. William Hobson is buried in the Symonds Street Cemetery.
10. From 1842- 1865 – 25 years – Auckland was our nations capital.

#auckland anniversary #auckland public holiday #auckland day #auckland city of sails