Day 7 in New Zealand

Jocelyn, Matthew, and I had a day to wonder around Auckland before we left for Australia. I was hoping to make our way to one of the nearby islands but the weather wasn't very good and we didn't have a lot of time. We decided to go into the city and find something. Once we got there one thing stood out above all others... the Sky Tower. It was close, it was dry, and it was a good view of the city. The cost of elevator ride is included if you have a meal at the revolving restaurant. So we saved a few bucks on the elevator ride and had our most expensive lunch in New Zealand. It turned out to be a good idea. We watched some rain showers pass over the tower as we sat in comfort with an excelent view of the city. We were there for long enough to make a bit more than one revolution and had a good lunch.
The view through the floor of the elevator going up the Sky Tower.

It wasn't raining the entire time we were having lunch. The weather moves quite fast around Auckland. One minute it is raining and the next it is sunny.

One of the activities you can enjoy on the Sky Tower is climbing up to a platform far above the observation deck. Another thing to do is jump off. This poor fellow fell by as we sat eating lunch. They slowly lower the person from a platform above the restaurant on a cable with two guide cables on either side. Then, after everyone in the observation deck below has had a good laugh, they drop them.

This is where the jumpers hit, I mean land.


After leaving the Sky Tower we had a bit of time before we had to return the rental vehicle. We started to drive out of town and just followed some main roads through a bunch of different neighbourhoods. Eventually I noticed we were close to One Tree Hill on the GPS and made our way there. This is one of many volcanic cones in Auckland. It used to have a tree on it that was planted in the 1600s, but that was cut down and replaced in the 1800s, but that was vandalized and eventually removed in 2000. I give the monument now at the top about 200 years before someone cuts it down.