I'm writing from a very dodgey internet place in Auckland, and also in front of a poster that tells me I am unable to upload anything without prior appointment or I will be subject to a fine. I'm going to try and upload some photos anyway, but they also may have to wait until I am home in a couple days.
Home.
Wow. I never thought I would be saying that word, and it coming up so soon. Like I said before, I am really not looking forward to heading back to Canada....but I'm sure I will write an entire blog dedicated to that subject, so I'll leave that one behind for now.
Anyway, Auckland. Arrival here was interesting. Apparently, it's not good enough to just throw out your fruits, you also have to throw out the plastic bag they were carried in. I learnt this the hard way when the sniffer dog practically attacked my brand new Country Road bag, slobbered all over it, and then because of this, I had to be taken into a separate room and searched. Seriously, I had nothing on me. Even the officers were a little taken back when my bag revealed.....NOTHING. Like I said, I obey the law. Damn dog.
We spent out first day in Auckland getting our bearing, walking around a bit, getting groceries and basically just booking our tours for the rest of the week. These tours will be the basis of my next couple blogs.....
Tour 1, July 27th: Sky Tower.
Sky Tower is a huge building in the CBD of Auckland. It stands almost 300m high, and Quinn and I signed up for the Sky Walk - a walk around the tower, 192m high, with nothing but a harness and a 1.2m wide platform. No rails, nothing. I was pretty confident until we stepped off the elevator and saw how tiny everything was beneath us. It was scary. Add in the wind factor (it basically threatens to push you off the edge of the platform) and the fact the guide was telling us to lean over the edge and trust our harnesses.....it was freaky. And cold. With the wind at 50km/h, the temperature up top was -3 degrees Celsius. Thankfully, as you can see from the photos, we were pretty rugged up!!
Dad barely managed to make his own way up to the observation deck to snap some photos of us. You can see how far he stays away from the windows at all times....even in the safety of an enclosed area, he still is afraid! He would have died on the walk - nothing to hold onto and the winds....lethal.
Anyways, it was a crazy experience and really worth it. Quinn and I both did very well and enjoyed the entire walk, from dangling over the edge, to jumping on the platform, looking down and seeing "ants"....we were almost disappointed when it was all over!
Our other tours (which I will write about in a couple days) include: 4WD beach safari, Bay of Islands and Dolphin tours, Rotarua and Zorbing.....so keep posted and I will update you all as fast as I can.
See you all soon! (and I mean it this time!!)
xoxo Danielle
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