Auckland

    Welcome to Auckland, “The City of Sails”, which is a very fitting title, for while we were there the America’s Cup Regatta was taking place since New Zealand was the reigning champions.  Other interesting points of this city are that it is built on an isthmus of 48 volcanoes, and its land is very fertile to wineries. It is also the most populated city in New Zealand.  Above is a shot taken from our bus as we crossed over the Auckland Bridge.
Accommodations:

University of Auckland. http://www.auckland.ac.nz/

We stayed at the dorms of Auckland University.  Their Universities are very different from ours in that most of the rooms are singles.
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The outside of the dorm                             From the balcony of the lobby on the
                                                                                 floor we stayed on.

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Activities:

Skytower is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere reaching 328 meters into the sky.  Various events take place in this building and it has a restaurant and casino inside.  More information can be found Here .

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Take a look at some of the views of the city that Skytower offers.  The viewing decks are glass the entire circumference, so you are able to see in any direction you choose.

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The next two pictures have a view of the Auckland Bridge as well as the Viaduct Harbour (home of the America's Cup Regatta)
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The outer edge of the floor of the Skytower is also made of glass, so you are able to see how far up you are.  It took a while for some of us to trust this glass, but we eventually all got out there. Here is Chris Mathews braving the glass floor.

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Nightlife:Of course it's good to get out once in a while.  With the race going on you could meet plenty of interesting people.  Here's a sampling of some of our group's shots.

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Find out more about Auckland here:
http://www.aucklandnz.com/
http://www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/