After waking at 4.30 this morning and partaking in an odd mix of cheese and scrambled eggs, we set off for Kelly Tarltons, Auckland's number one tourist destination and more importantly, the ideal location to while away a rainy day. Kelly Tarltons is an 'Antartic Encounter and Aquatic Adventure' and we went on a polar vehicle through a penguin habitat, as well as watching a diver being practically eaten by three gigantic manta rays with 2m wingspans and rotating through an underwater tunnel filled with vicious, man-eating sharks. We also travelled in a mini van masquerading as a giant shark, which was excellent.
Five Random Things about Auckland:
1) The crazy traffic lights - they click down, getting faster and faster, then a laser-like shooting noise, as if we have just been abducted by aliens whooshes out of the air and you have approx. 3 seconds to cross the gigantically wide, 5 lane road.
2) Rain expectation. New Zealand is equipped for regular rainfall. Instead of life stopping the moment the downpur starts, everything continues anyways due to every pavement being covered.
3)Freakishly friendly people. Every shop you go into is ringing with cries of 'Hey there!' 'How're you today?' and 'Whats up, guys?' It is brilliant, and yet both of us still treat this exuberance with mild suspicion.
4) The wonderful mix of Eastern vs. Western. For lunch today I had a tofu kabab in chilli-caramel sauce and a vege sushi roll. Alex had cantonese style beef. There was also an Italian, a Mexican, a 'Hollywood Bakery' and various other Asian cuisines.
5) The entire city of Auckland is built on about 70 volcanoes...some of which are still active. It is extremely hilly, and that, combined with the crazy traffic lights, makes getting places fast an issue. Especially if you are full of tofu and trying to catch a bus shaped like a giant shark. Fact.
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