Auckland 2.0

After a long drive south, we came back to a city that looked completely different than the sleepy, quiet place we encountered last week. I guess the Easter holiday really was a thing. The streets were bustling with crowds.

We checked into the Sky City Hotel, which is a large hotel complex built underneath the Auckland Tower. A large casino and several restaurants add to the allure of this place and it had a certain buzz that was energizing.

After a quick change, we piled into the Sky Tower elevator and headed to the top for dinner at Orbit 360. For some reason we are oddly drawn to overpriced restaurants that rotate in the sky. Go figure. But we were not expecting the elevator to be made of glass, including the floor and to get shuttered views of the incline as we shot to the top of 700 feet. Grady and I were NOT fans and had to close our eyes.

Dinner was nice but a bit expected (overpriced but nice views). It was great to see the city lit up at night, the green lights on the bridge, etc. Steve spent a little while in the casino to learn the "cultural" differences of gambling in other countries while the boys and I settled in for the night.