Reach for the Sky!

31st August 2012

It’s been a long day. A morning of climbing a volcano and then walking around the harbours of Auckland will do that to you.

But I’m not quite finished yet, oh no. There’s one more climb left to do today. As the sunset appeared, I bought a ticket to go all the way up the SkyTower, the hypodermic needle like structure that I pointed out when climbing Mount Eden.

It was actually quite funny buying the ticket. You have to go underneath SkyTower Casino to the basement and that’s where the ticket desk is. Spying the prices, I did an inward cringe about how much it was for an adult. However, the ticket officer mistook my beard, my backpack and possibly smelly look for a student and she gave me a student ticket! Still got it man!

Built in the 1990s, this is the tallest structure in New Zealand offering sights of the city and the Hauraki Gulf. Straight in the lift I was that sped me up in 8 lurching seconds to my first observation deck at 192m high. Stepping out, I spied something that made me like a kid in a sweet shop.

Glass Floors.

Many a time, as a kid, I would leap over and start stamping on the glass floors of various structures such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, causing lots of worried looks from people who are also hovering over the glass floors.

This time I didn’t stamp but I did march over rather quickly and did a tiny dance on it.

 

I couldn’t help laughing at the sign to assure people.

But I couldn’t dance for too long as sunset came and went thanks to the clouds blocking what would have been the best sunsets on my travels. Damn. But the views were very much worth it to see the lights of Auckland Harbours flicker on.

 

You can see how high I was up in the main observation deck.

But guess what guys, you can go even further up! The SkyDeck offers more unparalleled views and this time I wanted to look over the side.

 

Don’t worry, Mum! There was glass on the other side! However, all of you may be wondering why there seems to be a walkway outside. There are many activities you can do b the SkyTower. But the 2 big ones are

1) SkyWalk – at 192m, you circumnavigate the handrail free pathway around the exterior of the SkyTower for 20 minutes. Of course you are tethered to a rope to ensure you don’t fall off. Sounds like a great challenge to me but the $145 price put me off.

2) SkyJump – claimed to be the world’s highest tower based jump, you get to fall 192m to the ground with a cable attached to your back. I wasn’t really keen on this. If you wanna do a bungy then go to a proper one. Even $225 brought tears to my eyes.

So I didn’t do both of them. I was more content sitting in the revolving restaurant drinking a Kiwi beer and watching the views ahead. It was a good end to a good day. Meanwhile, I better pack my bag again for my trip up to the Northlands of New Zealand the next day…