auckland.

Auckland was our first port of call. It was unfortunately a very cloudy and rainy day in the city (apparently the day before had been beautiful and sunny, so we were just unlucky!), but the weather didn't keep us from exploring the city by foot in our rain jackets. It reminded us a bit of Seattle - not only due to the rain, but also because of the steep hills, and a similar-looking observation tower that we could barely see through the fog. 

our first sight of land in three days!

Because the city is close to the docking area, we decided to just explore Auckland on our own and see where the day took us. We ventured down Queen Street, the main shopping area in the CBD, to check out some touristy shops and holiday decorations.

We wandered along the edge of the University of Auckland and explored Albert Park - a beautiful grassy area with many trees and various memorials.

Auckland University Clock Tower

Albert Park's floral clock

We headed back to Queen Street and began checking out the map for more attractions, when a friendly man walking by asked us if we needed help figuring out the city. Even though we weren't really lost, he made some suggestions and recommended a nice uphill walk to the Auckland Domain, which passed a large old cemetery.

stainless steel Millennium Tree, a gift from Chinese New Zealanders

The Domain includes a beautiful Wintergarden, which consists of two glasshouses, a courtyard, and a fernery. We loved seeing all the diverse and colourful flowers and plants.

inside a Wintergarden glasshouse

unique and colourful plants

courtyard pond area

fernery

We walked up to the War Memorial Museum, which is actually located on the remains of a (dormant) volcano. We didn't go inside, but observed the outer memorial water fountain.

Auckland Museum and memorial water fountain

closeup of water fountain

It was too cloudy to even think about going up the Sky Tower, but Ben wanted to take a picture of it from the ground. So he did. We could barely see the top of the tower from the base.

We took some pictures and compared the statistics to those of the Seattle Space Needle, where I happily worked for four years. Single entry tickets are significantly higher at the Sky Tower ($28 vs. the Needle's $19-$21), but they include access to three levels: a main observation level, a "sky lounge" cafe/bar, and a top sky deck at 220 metres/721 ft. Looming over the city at 328 metres (1,076 feet), the total height of the Sky Tower is significantly taller than the Needle (184 m/605 ft), but its top observation deck is only about 60 metres/200 ft. higher.

advertisements for NYE - deja vu!

For a large sum of money, dauntless visitors to the Sky Tower can participate in horrendously scary activities, such as the SkyJump (leaping off the observation deck - think "vertical zip-lining") or the SkyWalk (strolling along the outer platform - think "teetering precariously along a curved balance beam"). I was never afraid of heights while commuting up and down the Needle, but thinking about either of these "Sky Tower Adventures" gives me a HUGE case of the heebie jeebies. No thank you!

Due to the heavy fog, Ben and I confirmed that it would be a huge waste of money to ride up the tower. But just as we began to walk away, we were approached by a man who looked vaguely familiar. We realised that we had just seen him fall out of the sky a few minutes prior - he was one of the brave souls to partake in the SkyJump. The adventure/experience included two tickets to the observation deck, but since his cruise ship was about to leave (and also because there was nothing to see), he decided to give them to us. Awesome!

We presented our tickets to the people working the elevators, who cautioned us that there was nothing to see besides a giant white cloud, but we insisted that Auckland's Clouds were what we had come to see. So we got into the elevator, which was small and dark and fast and also featured GLASS FLOOR PANELS so you could have a panic attack see the ground beneath you shrink and get swallowed up by Auckland's Clouds. I have had hours, probably days, of experience nonchalantly riding up and down observation elevators in Seattle.

 So I am greatly embarrassed to admit: the Sky Tower absolutely terrified me.

I can't even.

After facing death reaching the first observation deck, we disembarked and walked around the circular level. The windows showed us what we expected: a blanket of white and gray, with occasional hallucination-like glimpses of the city beneath us. Judging from the pictures and maps displayed around the observation areas, the Sky Tower has an astounding view of the surrounding city, so it really was a bummer that we couldn't see anything. Although probably a good thing for me, as I was not excited about the small glass floor panels on the observation deck, either. Yikes. We also made note of a familiar-looking Santa photo-area (the Space Needle is visited by Space Santa & Elves during the holidays - amazing), and various tower-shaped cartoon characters.

but is it SPACE SANTA? no.

we're no strangers to cheesy tower-themed cartoons!

We also paid a visit to the very top deck, which warranted another elevator ride, although this time a window-less one, complete with an elevator operator. The sky deck had similar views (or lack of), and after taking some photos and avoiding the edge, we headed back to earth.

"can you see the Sky Tower from here?"

It was very windy and raining pretty hard by the time we had to return to port, so we were glad to be back on the ship. We had a great time exploring Auckland - special thanks to the stranger who suggested the nice walk to the Domain, and to the Sky Tower daredevil for the free tickets!

CK