Auckland – Jan. 12th – Jan. 14th & Jan. 17th

It is so great to be back in a country where I speak the language. Ever since I starting planning this trip, I always thought it was great that New Zealand and Australia are right in the middle so I can have a bit of an easier time of it. My first day in Auckland I spent doing a walking tour of the city center and also running errands. I got a hair cut, got a pedicure, and my eyebrows waxed. Once that was all done, I went to the movies. I had an overnight flight to get there and I hadn’t slept much the night before that either so I didn’t have much energy for anything more.

Auckland City Center

Auckland City Center

Auckland City Center. Auckland is built on 49 monogeneric volcanoes. A monogeneric volcano is one that erupts once and then never erupts again. This makes for quite a hilly city.

Auckland City Center with the SkyTower. At 328m (1,076 ft) it’s the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere.

The second day I was a better tourist and I went to the Auckland Museum and the SkyTower.

Maori meeting house in the Auckland Museum

One of the many details on the wall of the Maori meeting house.

Glass floor on the elevator going to the top of the SkyTower.

If you’re feeling adventurous you can “jump” off the tower. It’s only 194m down. Because it’s a picture you can’t tell how fast he’s going. I think he made it down in about 10 seconds.

Looking down 186m (610 ft) from the main observation level. The red canvas thing is where the jumpers land.

View of Auckland from the SkyTower.

View of Auckland from the SkyTower.

View of Auckland from the SkyTower.

View of Auckland from the SkyTower.

The third day was the best day which I spend on Waiheke Island. It’s about a 30 minute ferry ride from Auckland but feels like a world away. I had such an awesome day. I spent about the first two hours hiking around one area of the island and then I came upon the main beach. I had passed some other swimming spots along my hike which I had all to myself. The beach was so relaxing and I spent a couple of hours there just reading my book and napping. After that I had lunch and heading back to Auckland.