Auckland
Auckland is a large city with a very distinct skyline thanks to it’s popular landmark the Sky Tower. I spent a day in this city which is all a person needs to do while visiting New Zealand. There are a few things to do, but a day is more than enough time to spend in this Capitol of New Zealand.
During my day in Auckland I walked along the marine coastline which was filled with hundreds of sailboats, water taxi’s, cargo ships and harbour tour boats. It was low season so the $29 – 90 minute boat tours were offering the first 10 seats for $10 per person. Although I was tempted by the offer I didn’t know if I would have enough time so I headed off for the iconic Sky Tower that hovers over double the height above anything else on the Auckland Skyline.
The first thing I noticed about the Sky Tower was that there appeared to be no door to enter it from outside. I went into the building adjacent to it and after walking up an escalator to see if I could find an entrance I discovered that the real entrance was one level below ground. With that discovery I headed back down the escalators and walked through the gift shop to the ticket counter. I decided that bungy jumping from the top platform was not for me and that a simple walk around the circular tower would be sufficient for my day’s excitement. Entrance fees are $28 NZD for adults with an extra $3 if you want to go up to the upper deck of the tallest tower in the “Southern Hemisphere”.
The view from up top was amazing. I could see everything from the harbour to the back hills behind the city. It was a great way to get my bearings for later on in the day when I had planned to walk a few kilometers around the city to visit a few more sights. In mid-May there were not many people at the sight and I kept my eyes out to see if anyone was brave enough to bungy jump from the top platform. Unfortunately there was not so I took some cloudy day photos before continuing on with my day.
Having seen the city from the tower I made my way through the streets and park before arriving at the university grounds. Here I stopped for an affordable lunch. The food court at the university had quite a multi-cultural selection of foods including Chinese, Indian, Italian, American and Greek. It was a great stop and midway point on my walk to the Auckland Museum.
I walked on down the valley and across a motorway before reaching the gigantic park that surrounds the Auckland Museum. It was a beautiful walk along the trail that mounted the hillside to the museum. I stopped to take photos near a cherry grove as well as at the top of the hill at the covered Winter Gardens. The Winter Gardens located next to the Museum contain indoor flowering plants and fountains. The courtyard between the two buildings was equally beautiful even this late in the Fall. I highly recommend a stop here for a peaceful afternoon walk. There was even a shaded fern garden attached to the courtyard that had hundreds of ferns along a short looping pathway.
My final stop for the day was the Auckland Museum. The Museum itself which suggests a $5 NZD donation for admittance was interesting and complete with an intricately carved Longboat and Murai (traditional Maori building). The bottom level of the museum covered the culture of New Zealand while the second level was a natural history and the third level was a modern history mostly of New Zealand’s role in the past century’s wars. I would suggest a guided tour of the lower level of the museum or at least a headset tour to get a clear idea on the culture and history of the area.
After completing my two days in Auckland I have been told by some that while it is a nice place to visit, it is definitely a big city. When visiting New Zealand it is worth spending a day here but not much more than that. In the future I will make sure to spend the time to take a 4 hour drive South to Rotorua which is the cultural core of New Zealand and is also supposed to be a beautiful drive.