Cynthia here.....I love Auckland! it is a great city, really clean. We spent the day looking around town and basically just getting our bearings. the viaduct harbor area is very nice, lots of trendy restaurants and bars.
I took lots of pictures of the city and will get them up as soon as I can. we have already found lots to do here but are limiting ourselves to about 3 more days in auckland. matt is looking into all of the "backpacker bus tour" options which take you around both the north and south island. you just pay for the areas you want to visit and get on and off the bus as you please. I think it will be perfect for us.
today we visited the auckland art gallery and it was very nice but with limited works. we also went to the SkyTower and Casino which supposedly offers the best vantage point of the city but we did not pay the $18 per person to go to the top. we were told that there is a summit walk on a volcano that offers views that are comparable (and free) so we will check that out tommorow. for lunch today we had authentic (hong kong style) chinese food and it was delicious, fantastic really. and all for $8! I think we have found where we will eat for the next few days :-)
Matt and Cynthia (to be continued)
