Natural feature
North Head
North Head, Devonport, Auckland 0624
Clifftop volcanic headland riddled with hand-cut tunnels and nineteenth-century disappearing guns guarding a harbour entrance.
This guide to North Head in Auckland opens with an 1873 newspaper hoax claiming a Russian warship had seized the harbour overnight, and the citywide panic it caused. It follows the real fortifications built in response: convict labourers cutting tunnels through the rock, disappearing guns that sank into pits after firing, and three batteries named after the engineer who oversaw them. Walk into the tunnels behind you to feel the damp stone the prisoners cut by hand.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.