In this 4K Walking Tour of Ponsonby, Auckland, we walk along almost all of Ponsonby Road and admire all the old buildings, shops and restaurants along the way. We also walk through part of one of Auckland’s oldest parks. This walking tour was filmed on a Sunday afternoon during winter in Auckland, New Zealand. That’s why many of the trees don’t have any leaves on them.
Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city and this is one of the many places to visit in the city.
Use headphones for the best immersive experience while listening to the sounds of the local environment.
Click the CC (Closed Captions) for more information about many of the places mentioned below and more.
Ponsonby Road – Auckland
We start at All Saints Anglican Church, Ponsonby. All Saints Parish was formed in 1866 and was originally a wooden Victorian church. It changed to its current brick design in 1958.
Ponsonby is one of the older suburbs of Auckland. You will notice a lot of older buildings here in Ponsonby because it started to be populated in the mid 1800s.
Above is The St John’s Methodist Church opened in 1882. It is made of wood! Notice all the details. Can you see the Sky Tower in the distance? Ponsonby is only 2km west of the Auckland CBD and Ponsonby Road runs along a ridge giving nice views of surrounding areas.
Until the 1980s, Ponsonby had a lot of rundown buildings with cheap rents which lead to a somewhat ‘colourful’ reputation. Now, Ponsonby is a predominantly upper-middle class residential suburb known for its restaurants, cafes, art galleries and up-market shops.
One of the most popular places along this road is Ponsonby Central. It has over 20 eateries, restaurants and dessert bars, everything from Korean food to a traditional Argentinian BBQ (The Sizzling Chorizo). You will also find some boutique stores and even a barber.
Above is Allendale House. It was built for a wealthy saddler in the 1890s and became a boarding house in the 1900s.
Ponsonby Pigeon! No, it doesn’t have any special significance … I just thought it looked cool.
Western Park is one of Auckland’s oldest parks and the result of a competition in 1872.
You can see a number of these sculptures that look like parts of buildings half buried in the ground.
The Sky Tower again. Did you know you can bungy jump from near the top of the tower? Maybe I will do it when we get to 100,000 subscribers. Oh, and over 100 years ago, the views must have been amazing from this ridge.
I wonder where the walkway above goes.
The Ponsonby Post Office was built in 1912 and is considered a Heritage New Zealand Category 1 Historic Place.
Ponsonby Road ends at this area known as Three Lamps. It comes from the original Three Lamps that were installed in 1873 in the centre of the intersection of Ponsonby Road, College Hill, St. Mary’s Road and Jervois Road. They were altered over time to run off electricity.
The area was originally called Dedwood in 1845 but was officially changed from Dedwood to Ponsonby in 1873. It is not known exactly which person called “Ponsonby’ the area is named after.
I hope you enjoyed our walk along Ponsonby Road on a Sunday afternoon in winter.
Have an awesome day!
