Day 27 - Auckland, New Zealand

Monday January 23, 2012

Up and at ‘em for another early morning here in Auckland. We went to AUckland University and met with a faculty member of the engineering school who is over construction management. She went over their curriculum here and gave us a feel of how things differ in New Zealand. We also had a cool tour of the campus. 

We left after lunch for “One Tree Hill”. NO this does not refer to the TV show. I didn’t think the hill could be anything cool but when we got off the bus, I realized I was wrong. This park, called “One Tree Hill Domain” sites just slightly displaced from the city center. It is acres and acres of rolling farmland with sheep, play set areas, and lookout points. One can drive to the top to an obelisk, resembling a small Washington monument. We did not drive of course, so we walked. And when we walked, we took the hardest path possible. This made for some adventure as was climbed hills in the sheep fields. Needless to say, all of our shoes were covered in sheep feces by the time of our arrival at the top.The view from the top was spectacular. We were able to see the city from 360 degrees. It made from some cool pictures. After resting for 30 minutes, we made our way back down. This time, we took the road.

For dinner, Jason led us to Viaduct Harbour because of the good food reviews. We quickly found out why the food was good. No restaurant had entrees for less that $30.00 a piece. Thankfully, we were able to find a small pub that had some reasonably priced food. Afterwards, we met the professors at the sky tower. We were able to go to the top of the sky tower to see the spectacular views. The sky tower is the highest structure in the southern hemisphere. It was definitely the highest structure and fastest elevator I have ever been in.  After enjoying a beer in the sky tower bar, we left to head home.  Because of our long days, everyone is starting to get in a slump due to the lack of sleep. Let’s home this changes!

 The "Samford Hall" of Auckland Uni

 Fountain in Queen Victoria park across the street.

 Walking up "One Tree Hill"

 Of course we took the difficult route...

 Through sheep feces I may add.

 It was quite steep.

 View halfway up.

 On top of "One Tree Hill"

 The group

 Aucklands Sky Tower

 The view from the Sky Tower through one of the 

glass floors.

 Another Sky Tower View

 These glass floors.

 Sunset in Auckland