Penquins and Towers and More

Bungee jumper about to land

Auckland, New Zealand, former capitol of New Zealand, was important enough that we had 2 days here.  The first day, Sunday, was a holiday celebrating the birth of the city, so many of the stores were closed, and the whole city was celebrating.  There was a Navy ship docked near us which was open for tours.  The entire area around it held little tents with crafts or food.  Buskers had street performances and the long low building next to our ship was full of booths for crafts and food.  We toured the city on a large tour bus and enjoyed the lack of traffic.

The landmark of Auckland is the Sky Tower, sixty some stories tall, it offers a panoramic view of the city.  It not only has two levels of glass enclosed dining, but also an open air walkway, a restaurant and a bungee jumping platform.  For both the sky walk and the bungee jump, you must wear a special cover-all.  On the open air walkway, you are clipped to a cable which runs around the walkway so you cannot fall off, even if you lean way over the edge.  Bungee jumpers do not free fall either.  They are clipped to a line which ensure that they land on the target, but the speed of the fall is only restricted by the bungee chord.


Auckland has an aquarium which features penguins and a walk through tunnel with sharks, stingrays and other fish swimming on both sides and over your head.  There were 2 types of penguins, King and Gentoo Penguins (the second and third largest species), and there were a lot of both kinds; 
the first area was an underwater view with the penguins swimming and catching fish.  I tried to take pictures, but they moved too fast.  Then we went up a few feet so we could see them on land, a simulated ice and snow area.  Some just stood around, others flapped their wings, others sprawled on the ice and others walked around.  At one point, a King Penguin walked past leading a long line of other penguins.

King Penguin

Gentoo Penguin

It is molting season for the smaller Gentoo Penguins, so

some of them looked very sleek while others were quite shaggy.  They molt all of their feathers each year and get a new set of waterproof ones.









The next day we took a tour bus through town, across the long bridge to Devenport, a holiday and vacation area full of quaint shops and places to eat. Devenport is also a major port for the Royal New Zealand Navy.  Darrell counted seven ships in port the second day but none on day one.  I had snapper in my fish and chips, and it was delicious.  The return trip was on a high speed ferry which landed right next to the Viking Sun.