Auckland

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The drive to Auckland was pretty straight forward and we were soon in our hostel. After a few beers we were read to hit the hay. The following day we still had Cleatus so we decided to make the most of it. Having said that it was the afternoon before we actually got to any sightseeing. First stop was up Mount Eden which sits about 5km from Auckland city centre. Mount Eden is a dormant volcano and the highest non man made point in Auckland. The views from up there were excellent. Ciaran also bumped into a guy he went to school with (the world is very small when your Irish).

After taking in the views we drove to Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World. This excellent aquarium/museum was one of the first places in the world to have walk through tunnel aquariums. The tunnels used were disused sewage storage tanks so the whole place is underground. There was a good exhibit on Captain Scotts Antartic base and we watched a show with giant rays after that.

We then boarded a sort of snowmobile on tracks that brought us through a huge area full of penguins. The penguin area goes through all the stages of the day and closely mimcs their lifestyle for the penguins. After that we passed through the excellent aquarium tunnels.

After the aquarium we drove to nearby Mission Bay lookout and along some of the beaches around Auckland. We took in the view from another one of the city´s hills and then headed back to the hostel.

We had to drop Cleatus back the following morning which we did. It was tearful parting. We headed up Auckland Tower after that. It is 328 metres tall, making it the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere. The views were great and we also got to watch as people based jumped off the side of it (Only in New Zealand).

After that we did a bit of souvenir shopping and went on the internet. We had dinner and quite a few beers that evening as it was our last night in New Zealand (Somewhere we´ll defintely be back to). The next and final (Scary) adventure of the trip beckons. Roll on South America.

Next stop Santiago...

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