High, soaring above

Day 2 of Auckland: Decided to visit Sky Tower and see what the fuss was all about - at 328m high it is New Zealand's highest man-made structure.  You can see quite a lot of Auckland from it - 80 kms in all directions!  First though we stopped in a the gift shop and museum-thingie which featured somewhat life-like characters from fantasy movies which the boys thought were pretty cool. 

Didn't dilly-dally too long around there though, wanting to get up high.  The elevator whooshes heavenward at 18 km/h.  I was clinging to the handrail which wasn't too helpful but neither were the bent knees and pigeon-toes - I'm not a huge fan of ridiculously high heights.  Nick and the boys were all over the place, not even mind the gaps in the floor where nothing but 38mm thick glass keeps one standing. 

Wow though...wow.  Auckland is BIG - no doubt about it.

Saw these crazy people doing a Sky Walk; a full body harness and overhead lines kept them in place but still...

But worse was the Sky Jump - people actually launch themselves off the edge of the Sky Tower and get let down rapidly by rope to a platform just above ground level.  It's madness, I tell you.

Phew!  Glad to be at 0m again.  Wandered about down-town to the Viaduct area, found a spot for lunch.