Our first stop in New Zealand, 3 nights in Auckland. The city straddles an isthmus giving it two harbours - one on the Pacific side & one on the Tasman Sea. Needless to say if sailing & matters nautical are your thing, then this is the place for you.
Obviously a good selection of harbour-side fish restaurants.
Our apartment was nearby to the dominant Sky Tower. It was entertaining to see bungee-jumping type escapades from this tower. Not for us though.
There are some older buildings in the centre such as the City Hall and Old Government House, but nothing really of any architectural interest.
I have no idea why this copy of Michelangelo's Moses from the Julius II tomb is in these central gardens. But it tickled my fancy. See my Italy 2004 page for other photos of this statue.
Another oddity was the wall memorial below. We didn't know that there was such a centenary.
A short boat ride from Auckland harbour is Rangitoto Island. Formed only 600 years ago after a volcanic eruption, it was a great start to our "tramping" in New Zealand. (Tramping is the NZ word for hiking, but has that extra laid-back sound to it.)
On route to Rotorua, we stopped off at Waitomo to go into a couple of the many caves there.
The Ruakuri cave is very long and has one of the world's most extensive set of stalactite / stalagmite systems.
With the adjoining Glowworm cave, you ride in a boat underneath a massive canopy of glowworms - actually a species of fungus gnat endemic to New Zealand. Apparently in 2004 there was a flood in this cave which destroyed all the glowworms. They had to be re-introduced to maintain the local's livelihoods.
