Advertisement
Published: March 25th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Britomart
While walking down the ferry terminal. Do I look sleepy? At my 2nd day here in Auckland, me and my mom planned to go to Waiheke Island today. We woke up at around 9 AM, and my mom brought our food before we left the hotel. We walked all the way to the ferry terminal, which is in Quay Street, and we were able to see other landmarks in Auckland, like Britomart. At the ferry terminal, we bought 2 return tickets, including a tour of the island. We left at 11 AM, and I and my mom decided to sit at the upper deck of the ferry, which we thought was a bad idea. As the ferry got faster, the wind also got colder & stronger, leaving us freezing (but at least the views were good). We were able to take pictures, as we saw the Auckland skyline behind the ferry, and while we stopped at Devonport. We arrived at Waiheke Island after 35 minutes, and we hopped on the tour bus that was waiting outside the ferry terminal. The tour guide introduced himself as Peter, and I noticed that we were only a small group.
During the tour, we were able to see some sights & also learn about
Waiheke Island. I learned that Waiheke Island used to be a huge base during the World War II, and today, most of the New Zealanders build their own summer house here, especially in the main village of Oneroa. The views here are awesome; no wonder we saw many summer houses here. But the unbelievable part was the prices of the houses there. During the tour, we saw a very small shack (like a tool cabinet), and you know what the price is? Peter said it costs 200,000 NZ, which was super unbelievable. It was super small for that price, but like I said, the views here are awesome, so I guess it’s really worth the price. We had a stopover in Onetagi beach afterwards, and I and my mom were able to find beautiful colored shells at the beach. We collected as many as we can so we can have some remembrance from Waiheke Island. The tour continued, and we were able to see some vineyards, which Waiheke is also known for: good wine. After an hour and 30 minutes, our tour finally ended, but me and my mom aren’t done yet touring the place. The main reason why I
wanted to go to Waiheke Island in the first place is to see the Stony Batter, a historic WW II monument. Unfortunately, we found out that the buses there do not go to Stony Batter, and it can only be accessed by cars/taxis, which will cost about 80 NZ roundtrip. So, we decided that we won’t go there anymore, but at least we still saw some sights in Waiheke Island. As we waited for the ferry back to Auckland, it started to rain, and it also started to get colder. Luckily, the rain stopped as we approached Auckland.
The first thing we did after arriving is we went to Westfields Downtown mall to buy some snacks for tomorrow’s tour. I also went around seeing some shops. I was actually looking for a shop called “Hallensteins”, but I wasn’t able to find one there. So after we did some shopping, luckily, I saw a Hallensteins store just across the street as we made our way to our hotel. Hallensteins is a NZ clothing brand; so of course, I can’t leave this country without buying any clothes in local stores! After that, we bought our dinner at Subway, which I think
you all know.
Although the Sky Tower is just beside our hotel, we still haven’t gotten inside yet. It’s a good thing that we got discounts to the entrance, since my mom is an airline crew. I was also surprised to know that the ticket seller was actually a Filipino! I thought there were no Filipinos living here in New Zealand, but there is! The elevator up to the Main Observatory only took about 10 seconds. The floors near the views have glass floors, where you can see the ground from below & stand on it. Later on, we saw a person who was about to bungee jump from the top. Good thing I recorded it all the way down, LOL! To be honest, I’d also love to go bungee jumping, but the price was high. So after the Main Observation, we went up to the Sky Deck, the highest viewing point of New Zealand. After touring the Sky Tower, we went back to the hotel & ate our dinner. At night, the Sky Tower glowed in color blue, as a sign of the Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was pretty cool to look at; too bad I wasn't
able to see it from afar. LOLZ.
- Joko
Advertisement
Tot: 0.116s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 61; dbt: 0.082s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb