Today was our second day in Auckland, and boy was it lousy... weather wise. For the entire day, it was cold (59 degrees), rainy, and windy. For the first time during this cruise, we skipped breakfast as our tour left early at 7:30 am and we had no time to eat. As soon as we stepped outside, the wind roared, the coldness chilled us, and the rain pelted us like daggers. We then quickly got onto the bus for our tour. We first stopped at the Auckland Maritime Museum to learn about the history of boating in New Zealand. During our tour, the fire alarm went off due to a faulty heater. This caused us to be escorted outside (in the miserable weather) to wait until we got the all clear from the firefighters. It took about 30 minutes. After that, we had to option to go on a yacht to take a cruise around the Auckland Harbor (in the miserable weather), or stay in the warm museum learning about the colorful boating history. We, or should I say myself, decided for us to go on the yacht cruise. Even though it was cold, wet, and windy, how often are we going are we going to see Auckland Harbor in a yacht??? This basically influenced my decision. At least they gave us windbreakers to protect us from the weather. The cruise was enjoyable and I was able to get good shots of the city. After the cruise, we went to an aquarium called Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. We saw all sorts of sea life and went under a tunnel with sharks, sting rays, and fish right above us. Our next stop was at the Winter Gardens of New Zealand, and we saw all sorts of colorful flowers. Mom and I shared a delicious pastry at a cafe next door. Our final stop was at Mount. Eden, an extinct volcano and sacred place for the Maori (native people of New Zealand). As the weather STILL did not clear up yet, when we went back to the ship, we decided to stay there instead of venturing out into Auckland to shop/look around. We left Auckland around 5:00 pm in route to Sydney, our disembarkation point. Mom and I had dinner in the dining room and tonight's entertainment was a Tango show, featuring two dancers from Argentina. Tomorrow and the next day are the two final days at sea until Sydney, and then it will be time for our tour of the city. Stay Tuned!
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| It's Rainy in Auckland |
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| The All Black Rugby Team of New Zealand |
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| Our Cruise |
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| View of the Ferry Building |
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| Try pronouncing this... no it's not "kway" West, it's Key West. The English pronounce the word Quay as Key. |
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| View of Steerage Quarters of Maritime Museum |
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| Caption about the room mentioned above |
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| Onboard the Yacht |
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| We are wearing windbreakers to protect us from the weather |
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| The Radiance of the Seas |
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| Another View of the Ship |
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| Sailing in Bad Weather |
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| View of Auckland from the yacht |
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| View of Auckland from the Bus |
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| Penguins at the Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World |
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| Penguins with two of their eggs visible |
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| Underneath the Water |
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| View of Fish swimming |
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| This was a pretty neat tunnel |
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| Hermit Crabs |
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| GIGANTIC lobster |
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| Lionfish |
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| Pufferfish |
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| Finding Nemo fishies |
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| Rugby Merchandise |
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| Auckland Museum |
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| The Wintergarden |
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| Courtyard of the Wintergarden |
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| Beautiful Flowers inside the Wintergarden |
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| More Flowers |
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| Even More Flowers |
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| Purple Flowers |
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| Multicolored Flowers |
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| Can't forget these flowers |
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| Courtyard of the Wintergarden |
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| Our tour bus |
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| Wintergarden Sign |
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| One Tree Hill (marking the summit of an extinct volcano) |
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| View of Auckland from Mt. Eden |
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| Caldera of Mt. Eden |
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| Sign is pretty obvious! |
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| Bottom of the Volcano |
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| Auckland |
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| Leaving Auckland |
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| Our Pilot Ship escorting us out from the Harbor |
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| Tonight's Entertainment |
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| There they are, tangoing away. |
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| A standing ovation, Bravo! |
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