Tuesday, January 8, 2008

NZ2007 - Northern Explorer Reverse: Day 4

This morning we travel north along the Waikato River to Auckland, otherwise known as the "city of sails" and New Zealand's largest city. Auckland is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with over 1.3 million residents, 31 percent of the country's population. Popularly known as the "City of Sails", the harbour is often dotted with hundreds of yachts and has more per capita than any other city in the world, with around 135,000 yachts and launches estimated.

 

Auckland

 

Along the way, we stopped by a little township known as Matamata a.k.a Hobbiton in the Lord of The Rings Trilogy.

 

Welcome to Matamata

 

Even the tourist and information centre has the Hobbit-Hole as the entrance.

 

Matamata Visitor Centre

 

After a quick coffee stop in Matamata, we proceed further northwards.

 

Robert Harris Cafe’s Kuppa Koffee

 

We make our way to the heart of the city centre …

 

Arriving into Auckland

 

… to take a look from the impressive icon that is the Sky Tower.

 

Sky Tower

 

Besides the viewing deck, the tower also houses a casino, function rooms, convention centre, theatres, bars and restaurants.

 

 

At 328 metres, the Sky Tower is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere, offering breath-taking views for more than 80 kilometres in every direction.

 

Spectacular views from the viewing deck

 

 

Another interesting feature about the tower is it has several glass floors that are only 38 millimetres thick.

 

3.8cm thick glass floor

 

Views from the glass floor

 

For the adrenaline junkies, the Sky Tower also offers the 192 metres sky jump.

 

Sky-jumping!!

 

Once back on the ground, we bid farewell to some friends who joined the tour from the South Island. In addition, we also meet and welcome some new friends who are joining us to go further north.

 

 

Our journey continues as we head across Auckland's scenic harbour and travel north with our first stop today is at Parry's Kauri Park to check out a magnificent Kauri tree, whose ancestors once covered the island.

 

Parry’s Kauri Park

 

Continuing north we reach the seaside town of Paihia in the beautiful Bay of Islands, home to 144 islands, secluded bays and an abundance of marine life. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country.

 

Paihia

 

We then checked into Waitangi Motel, our accommodation for the next two nights …

 

 

Waitangi Motel

 

… before resting after the long and tiring drive for the day. The interesting thing about the Bay of Islands was a study conducted back in 2006 found that it has the second bluest sky in the world, after Rio de Janeiro.

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