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Published: March 25th 2010
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Hand dryer
Yep, never seen one like it. In our last day here in Auckland, me and my mom planned to go on a tour to Rangitoto Island, and we decided to take the 12:15 ferry. Unfortunately, the pier announced that all ferries were cancelled due to tsunami alert that time. At first, I was very puzzled, because what are the chances of having a tsunami today? Because of the tsunami warning, we decided to refund our tickets instead, since the ferry and tour to Rangitoto Island only runs two times a day, and the tour lasts for 4 hours. The ferries to Rangitoto depart at 12:15 PM and around 4 PM, and we don’t like taking long tours in the afternoon. So, since we weren’t able to go to Rangitoto Island today, we went to 2 other places instead in Auckland.
We decided to visit Kelly Tarton’s Underwater World and Auckland Museum instead, so we made our way back to our hotel room to unload some things. When we turned on the TV for a short while, we saw breaking news from CNN that an 8 magnitude earthquake in Samoa caused a tsunami that destroyed most towns in the Samoa. From watching the news, now we know
why all the ferries here were cancelled. The first place that we went to is Kelly Tarton’s, and we realized that there is a free shuttle bus that arrives every hour outside our hotel. After 10 minutes, we arrived at the entrance of the hotel, which was very small. I’ve heard reviews about this place being so small & not really enjoyable to all ages. After going through, sadly, I strongly agree with the reviews. The roofs from the penguins to the aquariums were only a few feet from my height, which is 5’6”. Some of the attractions were slightly boring too, including the movie that shows about the Megalodon. The snowcat wasn’t enjoyable too; I thought the ride was dull, and the only live animals that they showed there were the penguins, and there were also people too. The only thing that interested me a little was the Giant Squid preserve and the underwater tunnel. Overall, I didn’t really enjoy the attraction, so we made our way to Auckland Museum afterwards.
We took a Link bus to Auckland Museum, and the bus was rather interesting. There’s a TV which shows the map of Auckland and the bus stops.
It also announces the next bus stop & there’s a camera that shows all of the passengers of the bus (like a webcam). When we got off the bus stop that the driver said, we didn’t see the Auckland Museum yet, but there is an arrow that shows the direction of the museum. We were still unsure, so we asked a store owner the clear direction. After a 2 minute walk, we already saw the back of Auckland museum. Unfortunately, the excitement became a disappointment when my stupid digicam is already on lowbat. After taking a few pics there, the digicam can’t handle it anymore, and I was greatly irritated. It’s such a shame too, since the Auckland Museum has many sights to see, and it’s definitely not boring at all; no wonder it’s one of the most visited spots here. The part of the museum that I really liked is the Maori exhibit, which featured Maori carvings & houses. Without any choice, we just used our old camera (Pfft). I was still not satisfied & I felt that we didn’t explore the whole place, but it was already closing time. I felt so irritated to myself, that I wanted
to go back there tomorrow; too bad it’s our last day here in Auckland tomorrow, and we will leave at the hotel at 11 AM, 1 hour after the museum opens. I really wanted to go back there, but my mom won’t let me because we might hassle. Stupid digicam once again, but whatever… I can still go back here since my NZ visa expires at December anyway.
Either way, it’s sad to say that this is my last night here in this fabulous city. I’ve never felt happy for a city like this for many years. Yes, it might be cold & sometimes rainy here, but this city is so awesome! There are many sights to see, the people here are incredibly nice too, and of course, the whole experience here is truly unforgettable. I wish I could go back here again… NO WAIT, I wish I could live here instead!
Bye Auckland... - Joko
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