World Tour - day 1 NZ

Arrived at Auckland 16:30hrs Australian SE Time and adjusted our clocks to 18:30hrs NZ Time yesterday. The weather was good although is was overcast and the sun set while we were going through Customs and so forth. We found the locals to be very friendly and helpful as we sought transport to our hotel (Best Western President Hotel) - sounds posh hey! Not bad but certainly not posh is how I would describe our suite on the top (14) floor. The hotel is very central - (Smack bang in the middle of the CBD) so it is very handy to everything, including the Sky Tower. See the photo's.

Ronnie in front of the most spectacular 360degree views of Auckland

Just love the elevator which has a glass bottom section that one can stand on and watch the ground rapidly diminish in size - breathtaking is one word to describe it, I won't repeat what the young lass next to me said when I suggested she look at her feet as we shot skyward...hehe!

The Sky Tower was fantastic and we shall return on Saturday or Sunday for some daytime pics but on the downside we were going to have a meal at the revolving restaurant but were made to feel like trailer trash not only at the booking which we forgave. We waited till 21:15 for a table... delays sure... then put at a table next to the kitchen as far away as you can get from a window seat? We had booked a window seat so queried the table and were advised "fine you will just have to wait for one to become available." At that point we had only ordered a glass of "sparkling water" each... not happy Jan! Paid the $30,00 bill and left. We had a Donner Kebab at a diner on the other side of the street on our walk home... and were treated like royalty.

Today was spent exploring Auckland CBD and it's many shops of interest, Ronnie's Day we called it.