Auckland [5/25-27]

View from Mt. Eden

Honestly, Auckland was pretty meh.  I got to see a few cool things, but I think I could have skipped it without missing anything major.  My first day there I got my stuff dropped off at the hostel, then walked a few blocks up the street to Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano that offered some nice views of town.  Sadly it also offered quite a bit of uphill walking, and my legs did not thank me for the effort.  It was still over an hour until dark and I didn't feel like just sitting around at the top waiting, so I wandered into town to try and find a replacement charger for my nook; I'd forgotten mine at bro/SIL's place in Timaru.  No dice though: the one electronic store I found was closed on Sundays.  After going a bit further up the street with no luck, I stopped by an alehouse for an overpriced but tasty (a.k.a. "not local") beer, enjoying that until it got dark.

Auckland at night, viewed from Mt. Eden

Once dusk hit it was time to head back up Mt. Eden to see Auckland at night.  My legs were complaining the entire way, but I figured I was already out and about and already worn out, so I may as well go for it.  Glad I did, too... the city definitely looked cool at night.  I forgot what I grabbed for dinner, but I headed back to the hostel and ended up reading for a bit, then watching Hot Fuzz with some folks in the lounge before hitting the sack.

One of the old gun emplacements outside of Devonport, looking back at Auckland

The next morning I took a bus downtown (thank goodness I didn't decide to walk... I could've done it, but wouldn't have been up for much afterwards) and hopped a ferry across to Devonport.  I didn't do quite as much exploring as I would have liked--the map made it look smaller than it was, so walking anywhere took awhile--but I did get to see the National Naval Museum, as well as climbing both the North Head (home to an old artillery battery) and Mt. Victoria, both of which provided excellent views of the surrounding area.

Auckland from Sky Tower

From there it was back across the bay and up to Sky Tower.  It's no Empire State Building, but it's tall enough to provide some great views of the city in every direction, including down.  The floor of the observation deck included several sections of plexiglass that you can walk out onto, allowing you to look directly down at the streets below.  Even knowing it was more than thick enough to hold me, that first step onto it was very nerve-wracking... totally worth it though.  The trip up is a bit pricey ($28), but you can get $3 off with a coupon in the free official Auckland guide, and it's only a couple more dollars for a day/night package that allows you up once during the day and once again after dark.  Once I'd had my fill of the view I snagged an overpriced beer I headed back down and started another hunt for a nook charger... success!  I ended up finding one at The Warehouse (kind of like the Kiwi version of Walmart), but at 50% off it still ran me $25 for something that would've been <$10 back in the States.  I wanted to keep reading though, so I was stuck with it, and at least I can give it to my bro when he comes back for a friend's wedding this summer.  It was close enough to sunset at that point that I decided to try and get up Mt. Eden again for some shots of that, but alas, the sunset was not a good one.  Oh well.  Back to the hostel to work on postcards, and then it was time for bed before my flight to Sydney the next day.

Look at all the bugs!  Oh wait, those are people.