Auckland, New Zealand Journal & Photos - September 2000

September 27, 2000
I left house about 2:30 with mom and dad for my 6:00 PM flight at Dulles. I didn't want them to have to drive back across the bridge during rush hour. I weaseled my way into the American Airline's Admiral's Club even though I am not a member. The girl's at the desk had mercy on a travel agency owner. They asked how I was faring now that the airlines don't pay us anything. For future knowledge if I call American's 800 number and hit IAD as the extension I go right to Admiral's Club at Dulles where they can sign people up. This was one of few American flights I have ever been on that left and arrived on time. Business class is the only way to fly (except for First Class). Meals weren't that great though. Had Garlic Torteloni which was OK and a Salmon salad that was good. The flight itself was possibly the smoothest flight I have ever been on. The time of day we left was pretty neat because we basically followed the sunset for about 3 1/2 hours. The first clouds we saw were after the mountains leading into LA. I got lucky and was on the right hand side of the plane and got to see Las Vegas from 30,000 feet as opposed to flying into it. I could definitely make out the strip and especially Luxor. I got to the Sheraton Four Points LAX Hotel at 9:00 PM and went to there pub, T. H. Brester's and had a Bar B Que Chicken Pizza and a Spaten while watching the Olympics. I can't believe Alexander Karellin lost in Greco Roman wrestling to the US guy Rulon Gardener. There was an older Asian guy all excited at the bar. Apparently he was an Olympic wrestler in has time and had been screwed by the Eastern Bloc officials. He was telling everyone in the bar how big of an upset this match was. Well my long flight is tomorrow so I had better try and get some sleep.

September 28 - 29, 2000

Air New Zealand Business Class Luggage Tag

Everything is going way to easy so far on this trip. No problems getting out of the hotel, to the airport or even getting checked in. Business Class Lounge for Air New Zealand was nice. There was even a shower area with towels for people who wanted that service. I might try that on the way home even though my flight will have just ended. I sat upstairs on the Air New Zealand Flight 5 that left on time. Of course if they don't leave on time they have 12 hours to try to make up the time. I sat next to a nice guy from Auckland who had just taken his wife and 3 kids on a tour of the Southwest. He hadn't been to Las Vegas since 1985 and couldn't believe the changes. He wasn't that impressed with Disneyland's crowding. The Business Class seating was really nice. I could put the chair in full recline and almost be lying down. The seats have personal video screens with about 8 movies with 2 cycles running on a loop. I saw Crimson Tide, On Any Given Sunday, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas and High Fidelity. A real nice feature was a screen that kept you updated on the status of the flight. It would switch back and forth from a screen showing speed, mileage flown, time from location, altitude and outside temperature (-50 C average at 10000 meters average) with a screen that had a map of where we were going and had been. We passed the equator at about 8:00 PM on September 28 and the date line at about 10:10 pm on September 28, both Washington DC time. While watching the Simpson’s I heard some great lines that reminded me of Terry.
"He's no man; he's a remorseless eating machine"
"He's a beast more stomach than man"
"He's nature’s cruelest mistake"
The flight was real smooth. The few times we hit turbulence the pilots got us out of it really quick. The last nice thing about Business Class is the speed at which you get out of the airport. We landed at 5:30 PM Auckland time and I was at the hotel at 6:30 PM.

That was amazing for going through customs. I caught a VIP Cab from the airport. They are remarkably clean and the cabbies are all lined up waiting for you and are all dressed in a white buttoned down shirt with ties. My cabbie had lived here for two years having moved from Birmingham, England and absolutely loves it here. When I told him it was my first trip he guaranteed me I would return. The weather was overcast and rainy when I arrived but he told me it had been really nice all week. He was a pretty funny guy. Every time I would finish a sentence he would repeat the end of it with a little laugh. For example, talking about how big Disney World was I said it had the same amount of land as San Francisco. He then repeats "Same as San Francisco" ha ha ha. It was so funny I was having a hard time not laughing at it. He had been to the US once but had only been to Pennsylvania. He said he likes all our accents. The cab ride was $50 NZ (a little over $20 US). I am staying at the Carlton Hotel which is very nice from what I have seen so far. It has a nice big atrium and everybody at the front desk was very nice. That's all I've seen because I was just exhausted from the long day and flight and went to take a nap and woke up at 3:00 AM which is when I am typing this. Oh well, I will get a good start in the morning to see Auckland. The hotel rate is about $140 NZ (about $65 US) and includes breakfast daily. I can see the top of the Sky Tower from my room. Apparently the casino overlooks the city from the top of the tower in a room that rotates. I might have to drag myself in there to see.

September 30, 2000
I woke up about 7:00 AM and went to breakfast at the hotel buffet which was included in the rate. It was very simple but good. It was interesting that they had a Japanese section that included among other things raw eggs. I walked from the hotel down Queen Street taking a left on Quay Street on my way to New Zealand Maritime Museum. Outside is the America's Cup used in 1987 against Dennis Conner at San Diego. This was the America's Cup that the USA used a little catamaran and New Zealand used this monster sized boat. The USA won but it went to a few court trials before the USA got to keep the Cup. The Maritime Museum was very good. It went all the way from the Hawaiians, to Maori, the explorers Captain Cook and Abel Tasman's ships, immigration period boats, boats used for travel throughout the country, personal vessels, America's Cup type boats and my favorite the actual boat used during the 1972 Munich Olympics for the 8's rowing. They had a neat display showing shipboard life on the boats used during immigration periods. One room meant to be like a steerage class cabin was actually on hydraulics moving up and down to make you feel like you were on the boat. They even had the creaking board sounds in the background.

At this point of my tour I realized that both of the batteries for the digital camera had died so I couldn't take any good video of this effect. Another neat display was one of the HMS Bounty including the actual anchor from the ship. One strange display, at least I thought so, was the first display on the Titanic. I guess the movie was more popular than I thought. The North Atlantic couldn't be farther from the South Pacific but the story is popular. When I entered the museum the girl taking the admission fee was real impressed by the digital camera and I think was more upset it died than I was. The cost was $12NZ. After the museum I went next door to the America's Cup Store and bought an America's Cup T-Shirt for only $20NZ. That was my first purchase where I realized how cheap some things are here because of the exchange rate. That was about $8.50 US and it is a high quality shirt. Next I walked back to the hotel to drop off the digital camera and recharge the batteries. The doorman at the hotel is very nice and had given me a map to get around town and wondered why I was back so quickly, which I explained to him my camera problems.

After my hotel stop I took a cab to Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World. Just like yesterday, the cab driver was incredibly polite and dressed with a tie. It is a nice change from dirty looking, no English speaking drivers back home. On the drive I asked him about a protest I had seen near the hotel, very small, including people sitting down with hunger strike signs. He told me they were refugee families looking to get citizenship status. Kelly Tarlton's cost $18NZ discounted from $22NZ for my travel agent status. It is an impressive little museum. It is all built underground so you have no idea what you are getting into when you get there and you enter this little room that leads underground. The first half is the
Antarctic Encounter. First you go through a room that has a bunch of equipment and clothing used by Antarctic Explorers. There are also windows into the Penguin area. It's amazing these guys survived originally because they didn't seem to wear a whole lot. From there you walk through a replica of Captain Robert Scott's original hut at Cape Evan's. That was a lot bigger than I would have expected. They had a cut away on the outside of the hut showing the construction of the wooden huts and how they kept the draft out. Layering boards and tarp sort of caused an insulating effect. After the hut you go to a snowmobile that you load into for a nine minute ride throughout the penguin holding area with a narrative about penguin life and how closely they have duplicated what they would experience in the wild. They are such neat birds. In the water they really do look like they are flying. After you exit the penguin area they have made a little display of the penguin’s enemy the seal. Before you leave though they demonstrate that the seal is not king of the food chain as a killer whale rises out of the water with a seal in his mouth. I thought it was pretty funny because the killer whale has this cartoon like smile on his face. From the snowmobiles you walk through an Antarctic exhibit on the original treaty signed and things that all the countries involved are trying to do regarding the future of Antarctica. They had some hands on video exhibits that the kids all liked. The only cheesy thing about this area and the whole place was some video games they had in this area. Next came the aquarium part of the museum that was pretty good. They had some huge eels and lobsters that they called crayfish. Next was the Underwater World which was spectacular. I have been to a couple of these in the past where you walk through a tunnel but this was the greatest one I've seen. Instead of a straight tunnel they have made this circular tunnel that has a moving walkway and regular floor that does a complete circle throughout the aquarium. It really was amazing. They had more crayfish and these enormous rays and of course sharks. The rays were actually bigger than the sharks. They also are so neat to see from underneath. There was an exhibit on the building of the tunnel that was interesting. The only people using the Plexiglas for these tunnels when this was built were the Japanese who told them they could only be done in Japan. The Germans sold them flat pieces of Plexiglas and the New Zealanders learned how to bend it themselves saving them a bunch of money. Kelly Tarlton's is definitely worth the stop. Kelly Tarlton was a New Zealand explorer of the Antarctic who unfortunately died about 7 weeks after the museum was opened.

I next took a cab back to Queen Street. At the bottom of Queen Street there is an open area that they had put a big screen TV in for the people of New Zealand to watch the Olympics. Apparently it was real popular at the beginning of the Olympics but now 2 weeks later there was hardly anyone there watching the soccer finals. I watched for awhile then headed back to the hotel. I stopped in for a couple beers at the QF Tavern to watch more soccer which turned quickly to rugby as the Auckland team was on TV playing Waikito. Next was the London Underground Bar which ended up being a horse betting bar. They also had some odds on American Football. The Redskins were favored over the Buccaneers. Next I went upstairs to Murphy's Irish Bar and wrote some postcards. Last I stopped at Planet Hollywood to watch Olympic Volleyball and have dinner which for Planet Hollywood was great. I had a shrimp wrap that was new to any Planet Hollywood I have ever been to.

My times are still off so I got back to the hotel about 7:00 PM and slept until 11:00 PM. I took a shower and headed to the Sky City Casino which was a lot bigger than I expected. It was packed at midnight with mostly Orientals on holiday. I only lost $31NZ so I felt good about my hour at a New Zealand casino.

October 1, 2000
Woke up this morning about 6:30 AM so I know I'm still on USA time. Luckily I checked the TV and noticed that they went to daily savings time last night and it was really 7:30 AM. I typed up yesterday's summary then went to breakfast. After breakfast I headed to the Sky Tower. Sky Tower is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. It is about 2 years old and is part of what is called Sky City which includes the tower, the casino and a hotel. The tower is really impressive with great views of the city. Unfortunately it was mostly overcast when I was up there and couldn't see as much as you usually can. One of the neat things they did was in the observation deck they have put Plexiglas panes in the floor so it seems like you are suspended 50 plus stories over the ground looking straight down. They do have signs explaining how thick the Plexiglas is and that it is just as sturdy as the concrete. The cost of going to the top was $18 NZ but my travel agents rate was $10.50 NZ. I took a bunch of pictures finally with the digital camera then tried to download them to the computer at the cafe on the top of the tower but couldn't get the A drive working. I had no problems when I got back to the hotel though. Go figure. Nothing is ever easy. They had a mascot for the tower wandering around at the top named Scottie Sky Tower. I got a picture taken with him.

The guy leading him around was taking pictures with people and had them leaning against the glass that was overhanging the top of the tower. There was no way I was going to do that or stand on the Plexiglas floor windows. I did take a picture of one foot over the window though. I just couldn't trust signs saying don't worry coming from the people that invented bungee jumping. I think I got some good pictures of Auckland harbor and the neighboring islands along with One Tree Hill which is exactly what the name states, a big hill with one single tree on top along with a tower that resembled a light house with its light going off and on. One cab driver told me that a native Maori tried to cut it down recently as a protest to what the white man has done to his home land. Speaking of protests, from the top of the tower I got good views of the hunger strikers still hunger striking. When I went to the hotel it did take a while to download everything to the computer. The movies take a long time when you do the 320 HQ. I really don't think the movies are that great especially if you try to pan, but the picture quality is outstanding. I really like the feature that allows you to delete bad pictures. After downloading everything I checked out of the room and headed to Mount Eden which has the best view overlooking the city. My cab driver (an Indian guy who again was dressed to as a business man and incredibly cordial) had never been there in his seven years working as a cab driver. There was no hope of getting another cab back from this place so since it was raining and he knew I wouldn't be long he got out of the car stopped the meter and enjoyed the view. He said he was going to bring his family back to the spot. It was a strange sight as we are driving up out of nowhere appears all the cows grazing on the hill. This was a real steep hill too, and here are these cows in the middle of this 1.5 million person city. As I am writing this my TV just died during the Olympics closing ceremony. Or at least I hope it was the TV. Anyway before I get to far from Mount Eden I forgot to mention again how nice the doormen at the hotel were. Ron and Richard, I talked to both today for a good 45 minutes each and they are just very nice men who really seem to enjoy their jobs of helping people at the hotel. Before I got the cab to Mount Eden, I mentioned that maybe I would walk back (which after the ride there I knew wasn't going to happen). Knowing that it rains a lot there they had a whole rack of umbrellas for the people staying at the hotel and gave me one just in case. I have never seen anything like that before from a hotel doorman. After Mount Eden I had my cab driver drop me off about a mile from the hotel and stopped at a Jerry's sub for a soda. This Jerry's had a front window that opened up and had a great view of Sky Tower. I hung there for awhile and then walked about a half mile to Sky Tower and stopped into the Albion Hotel and Pub whose sign laid claim to being the perfect pub so I had to check it out. It was OK but that sign calls for so much more. I watched Taranaki beat Harbour in the New Zealand Rugby League and the end of the Men's Olympic Basketball Gold Medal game. The US won 85-75 over France but they should be ashamed of how they played. France played great but the US shouldn't lose to anyone by less than 25 points. France actually had the game down to 4 points with about 3 minutes left at which point I told the bartender they might not lose but someday soon someone is going to beat them and those players will never be allowed to come home again. We also saw the gold medal super heavyweight boxing match with 2 of the slowest guys I have ever seen box. The 6'7" English guy beat a Ukrainian guy. I got back to the hotel at about 5:30 PM and had a shuttle for the airport at 6:00 PM which arrived about 15 minutes late. I talked to Ron the doorman the whole time. He was an interesting guy. He's not a Kiwi but is of some sort of English background and is married to a Japanese girl. Ends up his family were in Osaka after the Kobe earthquake. He arrived there 2 days after and said it was an absolute mess but within the 2 weeks he was there they had made incredible strides at repairing the damage. He raved about the south island and said he hopes we get rain at the Milford Sound because it is prettier that way with all the impromptu waterfalls you will get. I got to go to the Business Class lounge again at the airport which is always nice. They had a computer set up so you could email people so I sent emails home, to Erin and Caileen and Francis. The flight was a little late and a little bumpy. On approach the stewardesses where cracking themselves up doing Austin Powers impersonations of Fat Bastard. I told them to share with the plane on the loud speaker but they wouldn't. They love the movie though. The one girl says she just can't stop watching it. I told her I was a fan also and how we watched it over and over the first weekend we had it and I told her about Jack Rowe's picture of Mini Frank which she thought was hilarious. I got to the Rydges Hotel here in Christchurch about 10:15 PM just in time for the ceremony I now can't watch. They have a lot of work going on here, they had no bellmen, the room smells really bad of cigarettes, and the twin beds are so soft you just kind of disappear into them. I like firm beds so it should be an interesting night sleep. The cab ride here was about $25 NZ so maybe I'll take the shuttle back to the airport to pick up the mobile home. The shuttle ride in Auckland was $18 NZ. But back to the hotel, I guess I got spoiled at the Carlton but this place is pretty disappointing for the first 2 hours I have been here.
Continue To Christchurch, New Zealand

Auckland Miscellaneous (11 Photos)	New Zealand Maritime Museum (31 Photos)
Auckland Pubs (12 Photos)	Sky Tower (42 Photos)
Carlton Hotel Auckland (9 Photos)	Mount Eden (10 Photos)
Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter (31 Photos)