Day 25 Auckland, New Zealand

Popcorn machine, downtown from Devonport,

Metal sheep (for Paula)

More Pics of downtown.

Early this morning we docked in Auckland. We are tied up to a quay that is right next to downtown. Within a five minute walk we can get to the heart of the city. Queen Street is the main drag and runs directly thru the center of the city, ending at the waters edge. Along it's sidewalks, which are mostly covered because of the frequent rain are shops and restaurants. It was named after Queen Victoria. It seemed popular to name things after English royalty of that time. A street running parallel one block over is Albert Street. They also have major streets named Nelson and Cook and to make no mistake they also have a Victoria Street.

The harbor is alive with activity. Ferries are constantly transporting passengers to a variety of destinations within the general vicinity. One of the popular activities is bungee jumping, in fact it is supposed to have originated in NZ. You have a number of choices where you can choose to throw yourself into oblivion. There is the harbor bridge and the "Sky Tower" which is somewhat like the Spaceneedle in Seattle. On the Sky Tower you can choose between two different heights. I suppose a change of underwear would be in order no matter which you choose.

The city is often referred to as City of Sails. There are alot of boats of all kinds and the city has a definite connection to the sea. We took a ferry back from Devonport which is a historic area we visited this morning as part of a taxi ride which showed us some of the waterfront highlights. Due to the fact that it rained this afternoon, which we are told is quite common, it reminds me of Seattle. There is even a Starbucks in downtown. This is the most metropolitan setting we have experienced since we left LA. It is very nice and clean but after spending a day in Russell no matter what the next stop was it would suffer in comparison.

Tomorrow another day at sea.