On our walk to the tower, we saw someone do a modified bungee/free jump off the top of the building. Dave's eyes got wide, he basically stopped in the middle of the street, and made a beeline to sign up to do the same thing.
He is a total daredevil, and much braver than I am. He did the SkyJump.
Here are some pictures of what he had to do to prepare:
sign his life away
and put on a hot jumpsuit.
Then, he took an elevator up a really long way, while I waited for him down at the bullseye. This is what it looked like from my vantage point (turn your head to the side to get the full effect):
Today was Dave's lucky day, because after he did the first jump, he was asked if he wanted to do a second jump completely free! Of course, he said yes, and enjoyed another free-fall experience. I am thankful that my husband enjoys things like this, but doesn't make me do things like this with him.
After the adventure, we both took a ride up to the top of the tower and looked at the pretty views.
We also ate lunch in the SkyLounge, a little cafe in the tower. So far, even the food in the little touristy cafes has been stellar. I had an amazing ham and pea soup with ciabatta bread, while Dave had a bacon, tomato and cheese sandwich. More reasons to love New Zealand!
All the adventure wore Dave out, so he took an afternoon nap while I ventured out to explore the University of Auckland. I was in search of a t-shirt, coffee mug, or anything, really, with some sort of university insignia on it. But, guess what? In the college bookstores in Auckland? ALL they have are books and a few basic supplies.
Look at all those books!
This says a lot about higher education, branding, and commercialization in America. I'm slightly embarrassed that our bookstores aren't exclusively devoted to books.
Other interesting things about the University of Auckland:
tons of dining options, including a bar!
a hair salon in the student center
and what we call "non-traditional" students who have children are embraced (wouldn't it be great if GHC had something like this?), making it easier, I'm sure, for adults to pursue an education even though they have children.
The University is located really close to Albert Park, providing a good amount of green space in an otherwise urban, concrete environment. Turns out, people all around the world like parks, and there were even some people planning to camp out there!
On the walk back to home base, I noticed three things that need to be shared:
(1) sometimes, at some crosswalks, EVERYONE gets to cross in any direction.
(2) cute side street with absolutely precious dining establishments (again, wish I could've captured the smell for you)
and (3) shark bus.
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