Goodbye NZ

Trip Start Jul 27, 2004
1
9
42
Trip End Dec 21, 2004


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Tuesday, August 17, 2004

To be honest didn't do that much in Auckland coz there's not that much to do for nowt - it's a city type of city with lots of bars & shops (if only we had lots of cash!) Anyway, made the best of what we had. Stayed above a 24hrs pub (had a look into the bar at 8am & they were serving beer - didn't have one though)called the Albion Hotel (calling it a hotel is pushing it a bit). Marginally warmer than Queenstown but that was because it was marginally warmer outside, telly reception just as bad as Queenstown.

Kerry dragged me up the Skytower (the tallest structure in the southern hemisphere according to everything you read/see relating to it). Now this Skytower has no ordinary observation platform, glass from floor to ceiling & it's angled towards you at the bottom so as you look down you really look down, like vertically down, like stood on the edge of the platform type looking down brr, it's cold!
brr, it's cold!
 . It also had clear perspex cut outs that damn fools could stand on & pretend they were floating (or whatever these foolish not scared of heights types think of). A sign beside them did assure people that they were just as thick as ' the concrete you are stood on', poppy-cock I thought, even though Kerry pointed out to me a 3 year old kid jumping up & down on one, I wasn't reassured, even after Kerry stood, knelt & cavorted on one I still wasn't reassured. After a few beers & valium my knees stopped knocking & when the blood had returned to my head I quite enjoyed the views - can see two volcanoes & thousands of yachts from the top.

Highlight of the two days was going into a bar called Minus 5 Degrees, so called because the temperature inside is (you guessed it) -5! You're only allowed in there for a max of half an hour & are issued with thermal overcoats, under gloves & outer gloves, explained to the fella at the front desk that after the places we'd been staying in -5 would be nothing, but he insisted. Inside was like an ice grotto (it was basically a huge industrial freezer)everything & we mean everything (apart from the floor obviously)was made from ice - the inner walls (ice blocks), the bar (ice blocks), the seats - all ice, even the glasses were made from ice.

The bar was sponsored by Absolut so all drinks were vodka cocktails & it was so cold that the mixers in the drinks were freezing as we were drinking (a little more voddy required me thinks bar man).

Enough for now, be in touch from Sydney.
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