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Other entries in Auckland

Auckland at last

We got to our new apartment in Auckland at about two p.m. local time (I don't know what time it was for us, since one isn't really on a time zone after sleeping in an airport followed by three days of flying and being in different countries at varying times. We swore we'd stay up until at least ten p.m. to try to get acclimatized to NZ time, and, still vowing that we would absolutely NOT go to sleep under any circumstances, we quietly passed out for fourteen hours, awaking at four a.m. feeling vastly refreshed (though absolutely ravenous and desperately in need of a shower).

Auckland is fun. We visited Kelly Tarlton's Antartic Adventure, which included a walk-through replica of the hut used in Antartica by the Scott expedition, a drive-through tour of a colony of King and Gentoo penguins, and just enough interesting facts about Antartica to make us really interested in going there. The best part was a huge aquarium designed to mimic the experience of scuba diving. You get on this moving sidewalk (you can get off at any time) and it takes you through a tunnel through the aquarium. Enormous fish, sharks, rays and other sea creatures surround you on all sides, even above you. It made Cat a bit nervous (the glass was creaking a bit), but it was really awesome.

We also went to the Auckland Museum, which is to a great extent dedicated to New Zealand's participation in various world conflicts. Having just done a lot of military history stuff in Europe, we sort of skimmed those sections and spent more time looking at the Maori cultural artifacts and the section about the colonization of NZ.

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