Auckland: The city of sails

We spent yesterday enjoying this beautiful city, while trying to recover from the jet lag (which, amongst other problems seems to have a very negative impact on what is my already poor spelling - re-reading yesterday blog was quite painful....).  The weather could not have been nicer: apparently, we brought the sunshine with us, as everyone tells us this has been a rotten summer.  But not yesterday!  bright sunshine, little puffy clouds, warm, but not too warm - perfect!
The city lived up to its nickname of "the city of sails", since it is hosting the "volvo ocean race" right now - and these magnificent sail boats are in the bay and the harbor.  It seems to me like a rather foolish thing to do- but it is pretty to watch:

We strolled around the harbor, and then took a ferry across the bay to the Devonport neighborhood, mostly to enjoy the pretty ride and views of the city (although Devonport is pretty too).  This is one of these cities that is completely surrounded by water - being located on an isthmus, and surrounded by numerous islands (volcanoes actually, there are 48 of them surrounding the city - we've bee assured that they are all dormant....).  Like Sydney, a lot of public transportation is done by ferry.  The ferry ride back provided great opportunities to see the city from the sea:

We went to the top of the tower - but did not take the "big jump" from it (where they strap you to a very large rope, and basically push you off the 380 feet tower.... maybe when I'm less jet lagged.....).  It has these glass floors that make it look like you are about to step over the ledge - it's actually very hard to just walk on them - your brain just does not want to do that!

then some drinks by the harbor:

then a very light dinner - and we tried to stay up till sunset (which is late, since it is still summer) and failed.
By i slept until 5:30am - which, for me is almost normal.
Today - more city sightseeing this morning, and then we are going to the tropical forest and the black sand beaches north of the city.