Auckland!

It's been a while since we did anything blog-worthy, but I finally have something to tell you about (have a few more coming soon too)!  We took a trip to Auckland a couple weeks back.  While Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, Auckland is by far the biggest city in the country.  That was the first thing that hit us when we arrived; it was so crowded!  We were staying in a hotel right in the heart of downtown, and the sidewalks were full of people.  This was a good thing, since it felt a little more like home!  Our main reason for going to Auckland was to go to the Roger Waters concert, but we did a few other fun things while we were there too.  The concert was AMAZING!  It was by far one of the best stage shows I've ever seen.  There were no cameras allowed, and since we both have the cheapest, most generic phone money could buy here... we were probably the ONLY ones without cameras on our phones.  Therefore, I must admit, we did not record these little videos.  We found these on YouTube, and they are from the actual concert we were at. So that should count for something.  Roger Waters performed "The Wall". It was like going to the theater because there were so many amazing things going on on-stage.  Here are a few of my favorite videos:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acS5FDc0cvk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZZzb1PLbds&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5JQqVTDKv0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12YpJI9FLRY&feature=related


Once we had the concert out of our systems, it was time to play tourist.  We were only there a couple nights. So we hit only the major stuff.  One of the cool things we did was have dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower, which is the highest point in the city.  It afforded great views and a nice time, but the food was way too pricey for what we got...  I guess that's what happens at tourist traps!  The cool thing is they do these Sky Walks where they strap people to the top of the tower, and you can walk around the outside of the tower.  It was terrifying... to see other people do it (you didn't think I would actually get out there, no way!).  In addition to a few great restaurants and watering holes, we also visited Kelly Tarlton's Arctic Encounter.  Basically, it was an aquarium.  We were picked up downtown by the "shark bus" and taken about 10 minutes outside of the city to the aquarium.  For the first hour we walked around to the different exhibits.  Nothing was too impressive to be honest, but still fun.  I especially loved the penguin enclosure.  You ride in a little cart around and through the exhibit so you can see everything.  Got some great pictures.  We went through the hamster tubes that all aquariums have so you can see all the fish and sharks from every angle.  That was cool.  It was good to see the sharks at a safe distance to start with, considering what we had already signed up for... Shark Swim!  The shark swim was basically this, you pay money, a employee/diver takes you back behind the scenes of the aquarium, gives you a wet suit and snorkel, takes you to a shark cage, and drops you in the aquarium.  So, while we weren't free diving with the sharks, we definitely got up close and personal, and it was so cool!  I was a little nervous at first, considering the "shark cage" was simply some PVC pipe as a frame and some mesh netting.  It keeps them out, but since it was just mesh we were told to keep our "bits and pieces" inside the netting.  If I ever do it again I'm totally buying a waterproof camera!  Needless to say our digital wouldn't go on that trip with us, so the best I can do is give you the awesome photo-shopped marketing picture... see here (pretend that is Elliot and me)   :)

So, lots of fun in Auckland.  Here is a link to the rest of the pictures (the ones we actually took ourselves).  Enjoy! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eandleenz/sets/72157629712919739/




















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