The free tour of Auckland includes:
1) A walk under the bridge to the north. You can bungee jump with the original bungee jumpers here.
2) A visit to Victoria hill. Across the bay, the views of the city and islands to the North reveal just how much water there is in all directions from Auckland. Sailing is so prevalent here that more than half the people here have watercraft and boat storage is in stacked warehouses as the marinas are full. They say it's the only city that is on both East and West coasts at the same time.
3) A fish and Chips lunch at another hill with an even more scenic view was followed by a walk on one of the nice beaches in a residential area. Kids were sliding down the grassy slopes on cardboard. The water was lukewarm, perhaps 70-75F.
I met a cool veterinarian from St. Petersburg, Russia who has been working as a volunteer in Samoa for some time and is here in transit to work in the US, perhaps in the Bay Area/CA. Also on our tour were two Philippino nurses who've been working in Auckland for 5mo to a year, enjoying their day off. Three girls from Hong Kong also were on vacation traveling through here. The tour lead/driver pictured here on the beach, named Ku, is a local of Maori background with an incredible knowledge of history and detail tempered by a relaxed SoCal take it easy attitude and friendly smile. His womanfriend and dog joined us on the tour.
Well, it's Friday and I'm off to the airport. My flight departs at 3pm December 23rd, and arrives in LA at 6:30am the same day -- 9 hours before I leave.
PS: I'll post once more after Joulien safely leaves McMurdo on Monday 12/26.
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