Near the end of my journey, one of the final destinations was to
see some of Auckland city before I departed for the Northern
Hemisphere. Wouldn't you know it ,Auckland is built on more than
50 extinct volcano tops and you can see the expansive suburbs
and harbour district by climbing up to One Tree Hill or Mt. Eden which
are two observation spots or alternatively called 'Maori Pas' or forts.
There are so many sights to see in the city that you would
need a few days to cover them all. Most interesting would be the
Zoo at Great North road, the Maritime Museum, Skytower and
Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. We choose the last two.
As you can see Skytower dominates the skyline in the photo
above and being taller 328 m ( 1066ft.) than the famous Eiffel Tower, it has
become a tourist mecca point . A lift will whisk you up to the two
observation decks, one indoor, one outdoor so you can see
everything
This is a shot below of the harbour and bridge with hundreds of yachts
moored there. This is where the round the world yacht race
ends up in.
A unique treat is to stand on the one foot thick glass floor and dare
to look down the 1,000 foot vertical descent to the streets below.
Amazingly, its the kids in your family who will coax you to do this.( see below)
Looking around the city you will see a very mixed population and
a strong Asian influence. Japanese business people frequently
jet into Auckland to do a few days dealings and then jet back again.
You can shop ,if you wish, at the base of the Skytower in a huge
shopping centre there.
Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World & Antarctic Encounter
A diver called Tarlton had the brilliant idea of converting some
stormwater holding tanks into an adventure ride. At about 6kms
(4 miles) downtown from the city centre on Tamaki Drive you can
experience what it's like to walk through Scott's Antarctic base hut
in 1911(see below)
You can see by the careful arrangement how Scott and his explorers
lived and travelled on the continent at the bottom of the world.
Then you can hop aboard a Snow Cat machine to cruise through
an Antarctic environment complete with living Emperor penguins,
get attacked by an Orca whale or go through a futurtistic antartctic
base(see below)
Feeding time for the penguins. Its surprising how tall these penguins
are ,at least 2.5 ft or more. Finally there's the indoor aquarium where
you gently move on a flat walkway under an acrylic tunnel with sharks
all around you. At any time you can hop off for a closer look. Included
here is the exhibit on the destruction the Ozone hole does to this
area of the world. Quite a lot to see in one area and you'll easily
end up spending an hour or two there. Well there you have it, there's
only two things left to say, Haere ra, which means Goodbye in
English. All together over New Zealand, I travelled 1500kms (938 miles) by plane,
another 2700kms (1688 miles) by car, took part in at least a half dozen 'barbies',
experienced the immeasurable Kiwi hospitality , cycled 34kms( 21 miles) up and
down a mountain side, travelled by chopper 70 kms (44 miles) and went
higher than I've ever been before to 3384 metres (11, 000 ft. ).At this stage, all
I can say is ...Jasus, I need another holiday.....
On a final note, as you travel down the
roads of NZ, turn on the radio and invariably you'll hear some DJ
say the following ..."G,day, Welcome to paradise!!"
...Kia Ora to the Kiwis.......
© Paul Griffin, 2000
