Auckland Day Trip

Auckland Day Trip
So Kiwi puts on a free trip around Auckland...and we figured Why not?
We managed to squeeze on the bus around 10am and headed out, they took us thru all the cool neighborhoods with cool shopping and fun cafe's, by Victoria Market kinda like Fanieul Hall in Boston, why can't I think how to spell that any more!!

First stop is the Harbour Bridge where we get to leash up and walk out under the bridge. By leash up I mean we strap on harnesses and once we get out there we are latched on to a cable on the bridge and walk on a 2ft wide plank where you can see the water moving below. awe walk up,up,up and when we reach the middle of the bridge we unhook and climb straight up a bunch of stairs into a "pod". Once we are all in the pod the front side opens and we are hanging up on the underbelly of the harbour bridge at it's highest point!! An Maori tune starts pumping really loud as on of the guys straps on a harness and runs and dives off the platform toward the water below..yikes!!!!!! I am having a hard enough time just standing there with the see thru floor!!!
No one else is brave enough to hurl themselves off despite AJ Hackett's more than easonable price for the Harbour Bridge jump!!! We turn and back, back down the steep stairs and re-leash for our long cruise back! Thrilling!!

On we go to Devonport a peninsula across the bridge to the North of Auckland, we have some lovely fish and chips in the park by the ocean. after lunch we are kicked off the bus and told to climb straight up this hill, an old dormant volcano cone, which once housed a fort to protect Auckland. The views from the top are gorgeous looking back at Auckland and at Rangitata another dormant volcano to the north. "The Big Smoke" Maori name for Auckland looks pretty cool from this vantage point, even on an overcast and blustery day. We leave an head back across the bridge and stop by the Auckland Museum, set high above the city, on another dormant volcano lump, in a very grand roman looking building. We head over to another cute suburb called Parnell, lots of nice and trendy areas to shop and eat in the city...a worthwhile day about Auckland.