I checked into my hotel the Rydges Auckland and lo and behold I was given a complimentary room upgrade to the top floor (14) and my view was of the sky tower! I could see jumpers from the observation deck sail down and I was right in the heart of downtown. I thought I would get lost, but it’s pretty easy to get used to. I didn’t mind the winter weather at all and I think it only rained a little bit while I was there.
If you are short on time (I was there only 4 days), I recommend the Auckland explorer bus which got me around to seeing everything very quickly. It’s guided but it lets you hop on and hop off at your leisure throughout the day. I did Kelly Tarlton’s underwater world, Auckland museum, and the contemporary art gallery on Wellesley and Lorne Sts – which an employee was super great and took me around the exhibits. We had a lovely chat. It was an easy walk to the ferry building and I got a guided tour pass on Rangitoto Island and a return pass to visit Devonport. I really liked this restaurant there called “Manuka”. I also climbed the Auckland Harbour bridge and did some gambling (winning/losing) at SkyCity casino. There’s also this little chinese place you can get six different items on the hot bar for NZ$6.00. I couldn’t finish it all!
If I could get used to the traffic flowing on the opposite side of the roads (I’m American what can I say), I would definitely move there because it’s a fantastic and laid back city. It reminded me much of San Francisco. The Kiwis are great. Next time I will visit more of the island. Auckland is a great start.