Saturday was a bit of a frustrating day, but one that turned out okay in the end. We originally planned to meet up at the ferry terminal and head across the Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, but Jay and Nikki overslept and so we called it off until the next day. Simon and I then headed back to the hostel, planning to do some laundry before heading back to the ferry port and go to a different island, Rangitoto. Our laundry took much longer to do, so we missed that ferry as well, so decided to head to the Skytower instead.
The Skytower is probably the most obvious thing to visit in Auckland and it's only about 250m away from our hostel. It's the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere (although it has little competition) and we went up to the observation deck at 220m. The weather had really cleared up so you could see for miles around the city, including its most prominent volcanoes, islands and harbours.
Viewing Auckland from above naturally gives you a completely different perspective on things and it turns out that one of the best looking skyscrapers in the city is right next to our hostel and I didn't even notice it before! There are plenty of tall buildings in the city, but you really don't register them until you see Auckland from a distance.
