Another glorious day down in the Southern Hemisphere. It is sunny and the temperature is about 20 degrees. A great day for walking. Auckland is commonly referred to as the "city of Sails" as the harbour is flanked by hundreds of yachts. Once the ship docked we were off. First stop Sky Tower. The tower is 328 meters high. The high-speed elevator, which travels at 18 kilometres per hour, takes 40 seconds to get you to the main observation level at a height of 186 metres (610 feet). A second high speed lift takes you to the Sky Deck, which is at 220 metres (722 feet). The admission cost is $28 and it is well worth the price. The views at the top are spectacular. You can see as far as 80 kilometers on a clear day, which we were fortunate to experience. Below the Sky Deck at 194 metres is the observatory buffet restaurant. This is also the level where you can do a controlled 'base jump' that gets you to the bulls-eye target on the ground in 11 seconds! The cost of the Sky Jump is $225. Alternatively, for a similar price you may do the Sky Walk, where you walk completely around the outside of a tower on a 1.2 meter-wide platform. Of course, you are connected to a safety tether during the walk. We opted to stay inside and walk over the glass floors, which give you pause prior to taking the first step.
From the Sky Tower we headed for the Auckland Domain a huge park in the centre of town. We stopped to watch some cricket and I counted some twenty cricket pitches. Included in the park are the Winter garden Greenhouses, duck ponds, traditional gardens from the 1800's and a Memorial Museum and cenotaph. The flowers were in bloom similar to the end of August in Calgary as fall is just around the corner here. Some of the highlights in the Museum included; a full sized Maori meeting house, a full size war canoe that seated about a hundred warriors, Edmund Hillary's ice axe used in his climb of Everest, a full sized Spitfire, Zero and Buzz Bomber aircraft and a room that simulated the effect of a volcano erupting in Auckland as the whole city is built on a dormant volcano. We collected a pamphlet on emergency evacuation procedures for volcanos. It is interesting that they anticipate any future volcanic eruption to be beneath the sea, so the warning sign of a pending eruption would include a region of warming ocean that would kill many fish and other marine life and eventually actually start to boil and give off steam.
From the Domain we trekked across the University of Auckland, a lovely campus, to Albert Park, which was designed to commemorate Queen Victoria and is a traditional English formal garden. From there we checked in at an internet cafe on the main retail street of Auckland, called Queen Street. After catching up with emails, we went to the Auckland Art Gallery, Toi O Tamaka. One of our favorite pieces was the uniquely-shaped bench that twisted and turned in all manner of directions for the entire length of the sculpture terrace. It was fun to try and sit on some of the weirdly angled sections of this sculpture! After walking for over six hours, it was time to use up the rest of our New Zealand money and what better way than tasting the local Pilsners on a delightful terrace overlooking the harbor. Mmmm good! Then back to the ship for dinner where the Cel had scallops in a shell and I had Wahoo. For those unfamiliar with Wahoo it is a fish similar to a tuna steak.
Cruise tip: Although for $40 you can get a day pass for the hop-on hop-off bus, we recommend that you put on your walking shoes and get ready to explore. Must sees are the Skytower, the Auckland Domain, the War Memorial Museum and the art gallery. The entry to the War Memorial museum is only $10 and the art gallery is free. Of course, there are several other museums and attractions that would be worthwhile, such as the Maritime Museum, and Kelly Tarlton's Undersea World and Antarctic exhibit, but there is only so much time in the day.
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