NZ Free Day in Auckland (Monday, February 22)

After I finished the blog entry last night, we were treated to a fabulous fireworks show outside our hotel window. We had no clue what it was, but we watched the whole thing! This morning we found out it was the Chinese Lantern Festival for Chinese New Years. Last night was evidently the last night so they did it up right. We got a bonus!

This morning we decided to visit the Sky Tower, then do some stops from the Hop On, Hop Off Explorer bus. The Sky Tower was great, even if the view was a bit cloudy. If we’d made it our last stop, we would have seen the city in the sun. Lesson for next time. 🙂

We first went up to the main observation level (51), then took the other elevator to the Sky Deck (60). At the Main Observation Level, there’s a walkway all around the tower. For a fee, you can do this “Sky Walk,” where you’re dressed in an orange suit and tethered to the tower, but nothing else is between you and the city below you. Wow. When we got to the Sky Deck, I got a picture of someone doing that walk. They also have a bungy jump from this level, but no one did that while we were there.

There were also plexiglass panels in the floor that you can see through. It was interesting to watch people’s reactions to these. They ranged from not particularly noticing all the way to one funny lady who wouldn’t walk over them. She laughed as she walked around each one, stealing glances at us. We laughed with her, and a good time was had by all!

The picture of me was on the Sky Deck. Yay, proof I was really there!

Next we took the bus around to the Museum. Main goal here was to see exhibits about the Maori (indigenous people, though they were themselves migrants from the Polynesian islands) exhibit, and to get some close-up pictures of a Kiwi. Missions accomplished! Note the Maori house, which is currently having restoration work done on it. The work stations are right there behind a barrier so when people are working on the panels (you can tell the blank brown areas where they’ll go), you can see what they’re doing.

We also got to see the Maori Cultural Performance, complete with photos with a couple of the performers. I got some great video with my iPhone, but since I don’t know how to post that on this blog (yet), that’ll have to wait.

Then we caught the bus that took us to Eden Mountain, the highest point in Auckland. Here we looked back to the Sky Tower and all around the city. Great 360-degree views!

From there we caught the bus back to our starting point, then strolled around the area looking for something for dinner. We settled on a Chipotle-like place where we got dinners to go, then came back to eat in the hotel room. Whew, busy day!

My future tonight might have a sauna in it, if I get enough done. Tomorrow I meet Active Adventures in the lobby at 9:45 for my next week’s trip. I’ll say good-bye to Diana who flys out tomorrow night to return to Boulder. I know she and Doug are missing each other, so I’m sure she’s ready to be back home.

It’s been great so far, and fun getting to know Diana a bit better. She’s been a good traveling companion. Good travels Diana!