City Walk

Plan for today - Monday, November 8 - See the City

Brooke and the girls drove me over to the Auckland Museum so I could start my tour in style.  I signed up to watch the 11AM Maori Cultural Performance, and was not let down.  A great show in music, history, and dance.  Afterwards I had a more personal guided tour with deeper story and a chance to ask questions about the native history.

Maori men stick out their tongues when in battle.

They also have incredible hand agility and great strength.

 After spending almost two hours learning about Maori culture, I moved on to the rest of the museum, to learn about colonization, island living, technology, education, war, volcanoes and earthquakes.  One of the best displays was set in a living room scene.  At first it was really quiet and I was sitting on a couch, watching tv... then the news came on and talked about how a tremor was felt out in the ocean and you could sort of see the effects. Within 12 minutes it went from being a peaceful living room, to one that was shaking underneath of me and ending up in complete dark death.  A cool experience.

 The Auckland Museum is a must see - very well laid out and highly detailed!  From there I walked to the gardens and a fernery, and down the forested domain.  I loved the feel of the city as it changed faces.  I hiked through the park, and then stopped in the University of Auckland for lunch... a typical meat pie was had.  From there I bumped in to a cute little art gallery and took a peruse through more Maori artwork.  And then on to my last stop of the day.

Sky Tower It is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere and reminds me a lot of the CN Tower back home... with a great view deck and a rotating restaurant.

One can see 82 km in the distance and you notice water from almost every angle.  A country of volcanic islands.  A great panorama.

I wasn't shy about walking hundreds of feet above, but some people creeped around the windows in the floor.

I experiment with my camera on the sky deck and got a great shot!

I walked back home from the Sky Tower in time to have breakfast for dinner.

The evening was spent with friends, discussing "The Reason for God" by Timothy Keller and sharing our faith.  The Lord is moving in mysterious ways...