Hop-on Hop-Off city tour

Given how tired we were from traveling, and not being allowed to check in for three more hours, we decided to search for food and ride around the city on the hop-on hop-off tour bus.  This was a good choice. We decided to walk from our hotel to the pier and see some of the city on the way too.

The Sky Tower is part of the iconic Auckland skyline and we observed it from every angle in our tours today.  Its 1,076 ft high, the tallest free standing structure in the Southern hemisphere, although I'm not sure what is deemed "free standing".  It is build to withstand 120 mph winds (and will sway up to 3 feet side to side in high winds).  

There were lots of these colorfully painted spots on the sidewalks.  They looked relatively fresh, but there was no signage to indicate if they had particular meaning.

Sunbather in the park. 

At the pier, there was  a large cruise ship docked.  We found a grocery store with lots of yummy to-go deli choices (I had forgotten how much I love meat pasties), and hopped on the bus.

Old Customs building and cruise ship

It first drove us along the wharf with lots of working pier with shipping containers and cranes, then along the coast line and past a number of small boat harbors, and up to an overlook.

A bike path was all the way along the coast and was being well used. 

Several extinct volcano mounts.

Then we drove around the hills and past the city's Rose Garden, which has over 5,000 varieties of roses, and came out at the Cathedral.

Rose Garden 

New fascade of the cathedral

This was an older church structure that was literally put on wheels and moved to the side to make room for the new addition.  It was also locked up. 

Delaney and Adam relax in front of a fountain.

As with all cathedrals, I had to stop and look.  I was VERY disappointed it was not open for visitors to go in (although the sign indicated that it was supposed to be open).  It was a combined space of an older cathedral and a new addition, doubling the seating available.  The new section had windows and very colorful stained glass on three of the four sides, and the fourth side was very it joined the older part of the nave leading up to the choir.  My picture from the outside looking in does not really do it justice.

Interior.  The new part ends where the white walls are and the far end is the original older part of the church.  The side walls were all open-out floor to ceiling glass doors that would make this space wonderful to worship in - linked with the outdoors.

We stopped next at the military history museum, but decided not to go in since we were all pretty tired.  We sat out on the lawn above some large playing fields (I think they were cricket pitches), and just admired the city skyline and the beautiful blue waters and coastlines.  It was very peaceful and relaxing after being crammed in planes for the previous 24 hrs.

We rode past several more look outs and parks, but decided we didn't have the energy to do any walking, especially uphill.  We drove past the zoo and a really cool museum of Transport and Technology  (MOTAT).  We didn't stop, but that was ok.

We ended up back at the military history museum again, which was the stop closest to our hotel, and then hiked back to check in.  We were all so thankful to shower and relax for a bit.  David and I eventually wandered out again for dinner (Indian cuisine - delicious!), and brought the kids some Wendy's and NY style pizza back at their request.