Auckland 2/6-7 New Zealand

We have begun our week in New Zealand.  The first impression is that this is one beautiful country.  

Auckland is a very modern and busy city.  This is the first time in several weeks where there are more people on shore than on our ship.  The population wasn’t very large on some of the islands we’ve been visiting.    We were here for two days and could have used another one.  There is a lot to do and see.

This is a view of Auckland from across the bay.  Note the Sky Tower in the center.  More on that later.

We enjoyed walking around the city and seeing the sites.  There are a number of shopping areas, restaurants, pubs and specialty shops around the port.  We spent some time at the local aquarium and Antarctica Center, 

Here are some of the penguins.  Look close in the center and you’ll see a chick.

Remember the Sky Tower in the earlier picture.  One thing I did was take the Skywalk.  You can walk around the outside at 192 meters (600+ feet) for the fun of it.  Here I am leaning back from the walkway.

Looking down over my shoulder.  That is a long way down.

This picture shows the width of the track we walked on.  It is 1.3 meters.  No handrails.  You can get more information at Skywalk Auckland .  No, Noreen didn’t go with me.

Another view of Auckland from my perch.

And inland, the large building is the War Memorial and museum.

Auckland is known as the “City of Sails” due to the large number of sailboats in the harbor.  That may be but we found this rubber duck there also.

Don’t think it is very big?  Here is some perspective.  We couldn’t find anyone who knew what the purpose was for the duck.

We came across a celebration for the return of six Auckland Rescue volunteers who had gone around NZ in 30 days in those small Zodiac boats for charity.

We had a great time in Auckland and hope to get back some day.  While there we saw a Moai tribal show on the ship.  The dance where the warriors stick out their tongues and make aggressive faces is called the Haka,  It was used to build courage and frighten the enemy.  It is still used in high school at games and there is a high school competition for Haka dancing.  Sorry I don’t have a good picture of it.  Maybe at a future stop.