The ship arrived this morning about 8 AM, and I had a great
tour of two major sites in the city.
The group boarded the bus and headed for Kelly Tarlton’s Sea
Life Aquarium.
This has a recreation of
the
Antarctic expedition of Captain Robert Scott.
It also is home to New Zealand’s only
sub-Antarctic penguins.
The next stop was the Sky Tower.
This provides an observation deck.
There are also
“walkers” and “jumpers” from
the tower.
I got a fast glimpse of a “jumper”
and I’ve shared the photo below.
The Sky
Tower is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere at 1072 feet.
After these two visits, I decided to walk back to the ship
which is located right downtown. I plan
to venture back downtown later this afternoon for some sightseeing.
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| This replica of a shark is massive. You get an understanding with the young child playing (he even climbed in the mouth). |
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| These penguins were real showoffs. They are so much bigger than I expected. I have video of them for posting when I return home. |
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| This is the downtown of Auckland that I took as the ms Amsterdam pulled into the harbor. |
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| Auckland's weather was perfect. It was about 72 and almost no humidity on this sunny morning. |
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| I wasn't fast enough to catch a good picture of a "jumper," but if you look at the bottom center you can see his head and arm (yellow) as he plummets past from off the top of the tower. |
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| A picture of my feet as I stand on the glass holding me up over 1000 feet. |
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| The Sea Life Aquarium is both under the water and underground. Photos of the sharks, sting rays, and other creatures are not so great (the lighting and motion), but I have wonderful video of the sea life swimming above and around me. |
