Day 21 - Auckland 2nd Time Around

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Today we tried out Auckland for the 2nd time, but this time we let someone else do the driving. We took a bus and cruise tour around the city and this time it was much, much, much better! I got to see many wonderful sites this city has. We got to cruise up to Mt. Eden where we got a full 360 degree view of Auckland.

Next stop was the Auckland War Museum, which had a lot more than war memorabilia. Three full floors of wonderful artifacts of the Maori people, the Victorian era and of course the war memorials and me being the sentimental softy couldn't come out of there without a few tears.

Then the fun and fluffy part of the trip. We got to go to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World to interact with penguins. I honestly couldn't believe how big those guys can get! If I could I'd stay there all day to watch them play and swim. We also go to see and experience what it would be like to be an adventure down in Antarctica. I think I'd like to try that out one time...but only one time, just so I could say I lived through it.

We then got to hope on a large ferry and cruise around the harbor. What a ride it was! A major storm was coming in so the waves got a bit rough, so unfortunately we weren't able to go to the island because we couldn't get out that far, but of course once we got almost back to our port the sun came out. Lucky the captain was feeling generous and took us under the harbor bridge and out to the open water. Again, I had hair and clothes saturated in salt water, but I love that feeling. I tell you I was made to be on the water.

Another day has passed on our trip and sad to say it was our last full day on this wild adventure. Tomorrow we depart in the afternoon to make the long trek back home. I'll be very sad to say goodbye to this area of this magnificent world, but I'm so happy will all the memories I get to take back with me. So next time you see me blog, I'll be back home in the good ol' U.S.A.!