Auckland is New Zealand’s largest and fastest growing city. Built atop a cluster of extinct volcanos between the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea, it offers something for everyone. It has a thriving city, more boats per capita than any other city in the world, and plenty of rolling hillside for those who prefer land. It’s easy to understand why a full third of New Zealand’s entire population chooses to live here.
We visited the Maukatia Takapu (otherwise known as the Gannet bird) sanctuary located along the beautiful Muriwai coast. Approximately 1200 pairs of birds share two of the giant rock formations on the coast, one of only three places you will find them in New Zealand. Gannets mate for life (20 years or so). They separate for a while during the winter, but return to the same spot every year to create a new family. They’re very affectionate birds, frequently kissing one another, tapping beaks and preening one another. The birds co-parent; both mom and dad sit on the nest to hatch the baby, and they take turns finding food once the baby has hatched. They have only one fuzzy little hatchling a year. The chicks spend about three months growing and gaining strength, and then one day they just fly off the rock – no practice or training – and find their way to Australia, where they will live for three years before returning to this same rock to find their own mate and continue the cycle of life.
Next up was a visit to a sheep farm deep in the hills. Situated on 200 acres surrounded by forest land and overlooking the bay, this was a personal residence that has been expanded to include this tourist opportunity. In addition to the sheep, the family is home to a herd of fallow deer. We had an opportunity to enjoy and feed the deer before being served a delicious lunch of roasted lamb, pork sausages, potatoes, homemade bread and a variety of local salads. Following lunch we watched a sheep shearing demonstration and observed the dogs do their work leading and driving the sheep. The dogs were fun to watch, especially the lead, a multi-colored border collie who could not wait to do her job. She was so happy to be out there – it was great!
On the way back to the ship we passed by the Auckland Sky Tower, a telecommunication and observation tower. Similar to the Space Needle of Seattle there is a restaurant at the top that rotates a full 180 degrees every hour. One big difference? This tower offers a 630 foot jump from the observation deck, during which a jumper can exceed 50 mph. The jump is guide-cable-controlled to keep the jumpers from being slammed into the building if the wind should gust. You can also climb to the antenna mast portion of the town or walk around the observation deck’s exterior.
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