15k

I had another pitch black landing, this time into Auckland at around 10pm. You can tell how excited I was, I could barley keep the camera straight!

Customs was a breeze and I caught a bus into Auckland central right as I left the airport. I made it to the hostel in no time and checked in. Peter had already claimed the room having been in Auckland the previous two days so it was just up to me to find it. He was asleep as I walked in so I headed downstairs for a kebab.

Unfortunately it was dry and terrible. I was exhausted and didn't care much. After inhaling it I went right to bed. I awoke early again but the view from our hostel window is quite impressive. We are staying right in the middle of downtown.

We stopped for a quick breakfast at a local pub. I got the Belgian breakfast which was a weird take on eggs benedict. It was poached eggs over two large potato cakes covered in hollandaise. It was really missing the saltiness of the ham that a traditional benedict offers. Ill stick with the original for the time being.

After we fueled up we caught a train to Ellerslie. Nearby was our first stop, One Tree Hill.

Now I don't want you CW fans too get too excited. This is not the location of the popular coming of age show in which teens learn about their feelings or something. One Tree Hill is a volcanic peak in suburban Auckland that serves as a memorial for New Zealanders. On our way to the top we decided to take a shortcut over what we hoped was not an electric fence. 

Having survived the treacherous obstacle we set out looking for the one tree. There were many trees but here were some candidates.

Alright, that last one is me, but i thought it looked neat. The actual one tree and its subsequent replacements were all cut down in a spite war between the Maori and the white man. what stands at the top of the hill now is a large monument for all to enjoy.

The view from the top gives a 360 view of Auckland as well, Peter was super excited.

Our next stop was Mt. Eden. This is second highest natural point in the area that features a large crater at the top formed from an eruption in the area. We made our way through more of the Auckland suburbs and arrived at the base of the scoria cone. To our disappointment a total fire ban was in place. We had been hoping for only a partial fire ban but we had to acknowledge our defeat.

At the top the view was even better than that at one tree. We even had a neat creator to include in our tourist shots.

I really wanted to jump and roll into the crater but it had some local significance and was blocked off. I will have to just get my adrenalin rush some other place. We headed down the mountain and set off for some food. We were instantly presented with a foot long version of the McRib that was impossible to turn down.

 By impossible I mean debatable. The conversation went like this:

Jake - Holy crap they have a foot long McRib here! We have to get it!
Peter - Screw you
Jake - okay....

We ended up setteling on a pub right down the road. It does beg the question why does a country with the metric system have foot long subs? I guess $7 1/3 meter long didn't flow as well in jingle format? Maybe they think footlong is some sort of outrageous american portion just like supersize. Subway did trademark it after all.

Well regardless we went with the local fare and I got some kind of chicken/goat cheese/sun dried tomatoes/spinach concoction wrapped in fillo dough. It was good by itself but it came with some weird plumb sauce that threw all of the flavors out of whack  I just stuck to the jumbo mediterranean spring roll sans sauce. I don't remember what Peter got so you will have to ask him.

After lunch we headed back into town on foot towards the Sky Tower; the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere (328 metres/1,076 ft). There was even a rainbow there to greet us.

The view was really the only noteworthy thing, but it was pretty good. Views of the city seem to be the theme of the day.

If you look closely at the next shot you can see a guy jumping off from the top of the observatory. It looked neat but it is a controlled fall so you don't reach the maximum velocity for the space. The have two lines on each side of you that slow your fall down. I think I will save my money for a true free fall.  

It was at this point we decided to take a break. We had been walking all day and needed a rest. The weather felt it was time to cool us off so massive rains followed us home. Peter realized a white button up with no undershirt was a poor choice. 

We had walked all over the city and were quite pooped. Google maps estimates the rout at around 15k. Ill accept that give or take.

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After some rest we decided to walk along the port. It was a nice little walk free of rain.

It was at this point we reached the most useless structure known to man. Not sure what it was for but it was full of levels and stairs that lead to nowhere. It didn't cross anything significant and didn't serve a purpose. We climbed it anyway.

From the top we watched some local Aucklanders attempting to play basketball. We accurately criticized them and moved on. I don't think team USA has much to worry about. Dinner came and because of bad service at a meat pie pub we ended up at a Japanese joint. I got a good set of seaweed salad, udon, and oyako donburi. Peter had the same. It was delish.  

We then grabbed a pint,

Watched some guys prevent a bank from falling apart, 

and headed home. Legs tired, clothes wet, we need a good sleep and then its driving time tomorrow.