Home » New Zealand » Christchurch, Arthur's Pass, The glaciers, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Abel Tasman National Park, Wellington, Tongariro National Park, Bay of Islands, Auckland

South Pacific - part II

Christchurch, Arthur's Pass, The glaciers, Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Abel Tasman National Park, Wellington, Tongariro National Park, Bay of Islands, Auckland

Hector Yague
2005-10-09 15:46:17

Displayed times (last time: )

fearless of the weather conditions.

Auckland's set is reminiscent of Sydney's, as both cities are located within a snake-twisted bay dominated by a sky-scrappers-fronted harbour. The main landmark is the higher-than-the-Eiffel-tower 328 meter tall SkyTower. In fact, it's the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere, and one of the most thrilling bungy-jumping facilities in the world. That's one thing you won't catch me doing; I tend to dislike browning my underwear, you see? Anyway, the best lookout point for a panoramic view over Auckland is the Mt. Eden, a volcano situated barely a couple of kms away from downtown. Auckland region is thoroughly punctuated by a number of volcanoes actually. Nothing huge, mind you, mere hills.

So that's about it. I spent that last day in New Zealand walking about Auckland's main drags, checking out the must-see locations, getting my shoes soaked up by the annoying on-and-off rain and sipping a cappuccino while watching people walk by, which hold my attention upon the enormous amount of oriental people living here in Auckland. I couldn't believe how large the Asian community is here, even more so than in Sydney or Melbourne. Seriously striking.

Won't comment any further on Auckland. It's, basically, another bustling and pumping city with tons of cafes, shopping, dining, blah blah.

Today 28th of Novemeber in the afternoon I'll grab a plane to the Cook Islands, a piece of heaven that God must have forgotten here in the South Pacific, right in between Hawaii, Fiji and Bora Bora (my mouth is watering already!). It's gonna be quite a change from New Zealand, for I will be trading NZ's alpine landscapes and cool, cloudy weather for the Cooks' white-sand beaches, azure lagoons and a tan Pamela Anderson would die for. Oooohhhh boy, life is tough ain't it? But I am ready to stoically undertake ...