Auckland (Again)
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| Back in Auckland, we had one more day before we flew out that night. We decided to go on an Auckland harbor cruise. But first we had to get from Devonport over to Auckland city proper. Parking is a problem in the city but there is a very convenient Ferry. So we did that. |
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An unusual bus that not surprisingly, is a shuttle for Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Acquarium.
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| We walked around a little bit waiting for the Harbor Cruise. That's the Auckland Sky Tower in the background. |
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We boarded the Harbor Cruise boat and headed east over to the Rangitoto Island, which was created fairly recently by a volcano. Rangitoto Island was visible from Rachel and Scott's house in Devonport where we stayed. It erupted from the sea just 600 years ago. Not much to see, just scrub brush and trees but the ground was mostly black lava chunks.
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| Heading west back towards Auckland. This container ship was plowing east. |
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| A good look at Mount Victoria in Devonport. Rachel and Scott took us up there at night for a spectacular view of Auckland. |
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| A nice shot of the Auckland skyline. |
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A stiff breeze pushed these sailboats right along.
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| Maggie hanging out inside the cabin where it was warm. |
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We cruised under the Auckland Harbor Bridge. You can bungee jump off this bridge.
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| Passing by a big cruise ship. Those apartments (condos?) to the right are part of a complex that is built to resemble a big cruise boat. |
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| Following the Harbor Cruise, we headed downtown to go up the Auckland Sky Tower. You can bungee jump off this too. |
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| Lynnette and Maggie in the observation tower. |
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Looking down at the Auckland Harbor Bridge which we had just cruised under an hour ago. And driven across last night.
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Looking northeast. Mount Victoria is in the center foreground. The 600 years young Rangitoto Island is in the center background.
One of New Zealand's Navy bases is just to the left of Mount Victoria. There were three Frigates there when we passed by.
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Looking due east.
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| Looking southeast, you can see the Auckland Museum all by itself on a hill just right of center. |
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| Parts of the floor were pexiglass so you could look straight down to the ground. Even walk on them if you were brave enough ... |
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| Looking south. "One Tree Hill" is to the left. The airport is off in the distance, center. |
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Lynnette decides to go for it!
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| She's clearly a little freaked out. |
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But she made it.
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| Here comes Maggie. |
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A little concerned ...
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| She's got this. |
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| Impressive. |
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| On the floor above the observation deck was the revolving restaurant. It turns a full 360 degrees per hour. We had an excellent lunch up there. |
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Our table had a fairly decent view.
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The Sky Tower lunch was a fitting way to end the vacation.
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| Living it up 1000 feet in the air. |
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We took the ferry back to the house, then finished packing. The family cat wanted to go with us.
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At Auckland International Airport. That's an Airbus 380, largest passenger jet in the world.
Like the flight to New Zealand, the flight back to the States was almost enjoyable. We took off in the evening. They serve you a decent dinner, then turn down the lights. You sleep for six to eight hours, then watch a movie or two (each seat has its own monitor and you can pick which movie you want to watch from a big selection), eat breakfast, then you land.
We landed at San Francisco going back, to visit my parents in Sacramento for a day.
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