It is the most dense place of New Zealand, having more than 25% of the population of the country residing there. It is very understandable though, because indeed this city has so much to offer. It has a charm that attracts you and makes you want to stay...
What makes it different from all the other cities I've been to is that amidst it being a busy and dense (but not crowded) area, you can have your space and relax. Perhaps because it is a city that blends the beauty of urbanity and rurality. It has the usual huffs of a city -- the cars and traffic jams, the tall buildings, the people walking along the streets, the bars, the red light district, the lights, the urban ambiance but at the same time the sky is clear, the air is clean and fresh, there are beautiful parks and amazing harbours that simply make one tiring busy day conclude with a big smile on your lips for sure. They have the perfect summer weather: sunny but cool. It is very conducive to having nice strolls and naps in the parks, something I found hard to do in the summer of Singapore (too hot), or the summer of Ireland (too cold), or the summer of Paris (too unsafe). It's no wonder I felt at home in Auckland, it was like I am so familiar to the place that I enjoyed going around the city by myself during the day, lie down on the grass in parks, and end in Starbucks to wait for Missy and Beth after office hours. What happens after we meet up is even a whole new wonderful and exciting adventure around the city, so exciting that time can be forgotten and you realize the car got locked in the parking lot! :)
There are many things to see and do in Auckland but aside from the natural landmarks like the harbours and volcanoes (oh yes, Auckland is surrounded by 50 volcanic fields!) there's two man-made landmarks that you shouldn't fail to go to:
Skytower - this is like the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and the Empire State building is to New York. It is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Though it does cost a bit much to go inside it (23NZD), I think it's worth it because you can get to see a good view of Auckland from the observatory above. Plus, the interesting thing is, the Skytower has this device called "The Eye" where you can zoom in to areas around Auckland in real time and you can get a clear visibility of the place, too clear that I actually had an ingenious (i think) idea: that it is a perfect spot for proposing marriage -- you could for example, ask someone to hold up a "will you marry me?" placard in the garden of Albert Park, and then you go into the tower with your girlfriend and you innocently ask her to zoom in to Albert Park and voila! Sweet as! :)
Auckland Museum - is one of the best museums I've been to. As you know, I am not really into museums so it took me quite some effort to convince myself to go inside Auckland museum. It is quite a big museum, all 4 levels of it but amazingly, I enjoyed going around it because the exhibits are really interesting and interactive. Plus, the museum staff are really friendly and accomodating.
Though I wanted to try to take the public transport to go around the city and be non-touristy, I decided to take the Explorer bus anyway, a hop-on-hop-off shuttle service that tours you around the city as I could not afford to do a lot of experimenting since I didn't have the luxury of time (besides, I have a high tendency to get lost whenever I do my "experiments") . And I am glad I took it because it was really worth it for 30NZD -- you get to have a recorded commentary which is very informational and you could chose where to spend your time among of the 14 attractions it goes around to.
(Sigh) Ahhhhh...the awe of Auckland...
1 comment:
you came just at the right time missy. :) The sweet cool breeze of our Summer :).
hey dropped by another cemetery.. :) i think you would have liked the scenery from there. ate and ichecked it out this afternoon. naalala ko lang yung purewa :) hehe muwah muwah
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