New Zealand: On to Auckland

Its only a three hour flight to Auckland, but you lose two hours flying east.  We landed around three pm, and in the international terminal were greeted by a large Maori carving and multiple "Welcome to Middle Earth" signs (which made Ashley laugh all through customs). 

Auckland is a city of 1.2 million people, making up a quarter of New Zealand's total population.  Their nickname is the City of Sails, with 170,000+ boats cruising around the many bays and coves.

We had heard about how friendly the Kiwis (New Zealanders) were, and we got a taste of it quickly.  Due to construction in downtown, the airport express bus driver rerouted the bus and took us directly to our hotel.  Keep in mind, this was a city bus from the airport, not a private shuttle.

Upon checking in, the front desk agent commented on how fortunate we were to have a breeze cool the city.  Meanwhile, Ashley was putting on her jacket over a sweater.

Our main activity in Auckland was to be the Sky Tower (similar to Seattle or Toronto), the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.  It provided 360 degree views of the city and was a favorite bungy jumping spot in the city.  As we got closer to the Sky Tower, we saw a large gathering of people looking up and police blocking the road.  Apparently, someone was outside on the Sky Walk hundreds of feet up and threatening to jump off.  He had been out there for several hours, and there was no telling how long the Sky Tower would be closed.  If you looked closely, you could see him walking around on the platform up high.

With no real back up plan, we had an early dinner at Elliott Stables.  This was a unique food court with open seating in the middle and 10 or so small restaurants that used former horse stables as their kitchens.  You picked a table (each had a number), and whichever restaurant or restaurants you ordered from would bring the food out to you. 

After dinner, we went for a stroll down to the harbor along the north wharf and checked out the sailboats.  There were several popular bars and eateries, and with no other plans we found ourselves relaxing with a few drinks as the sun set.

On the way back to the hotel we noticed that the Sky Tower was open (the jumper finally went back inside). 

With an early morning the next day we decided to skip a night time trip up.  In the morning we would need to catch an early bus back to the airport to get our rental car, and then head south to Waitomo Caves to see glowworms.