Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand and this north island city is home to about 1/3 of the entire country's population (4 million). It was also the start to our two weeks exploring the two beautiful islands. We landed early in the morning going after a fairly decent night's sleep (as good as it gets in international economy) ready to explore the city. We took a shuttle to SkyCity where we were able to early check-in on our 17th room floor overlooking the city and the Sky Tower. After a quick shower, we were off for the Fish Market (which we never found) and the Victoria Market where we lunched at Hartley's Cafe. We ordered filled sandwiches and chips (just as in the UK, these are fries). We began what would become a daily tradition and enjoyed some local-made ice cream before walking out to the Viaduct Harbour Basin-- site of America's Cup and now an upscale condo and restaurant hub on the water. We successfully found the bus that took us to Mt. Eden, although it dropped us off more than 1 km away from the start of the hike. Mt. Eden is the highest point in Auckland sitting at 200m and is a 50m-deep cinder cone resulting from volcanoes 15,000 years ago. We were unprepared for this hike dressed in jeans and long-sleeves, but after what seemed like 15,000 steps, we reached the top. Tons of tour buses and vans were up here, but I guarantee they didn't appreciate the view as much as we did. But yeah, they weren't covered in sweat.
You could see the entire skyline and 360 degree views of the entire region including One Tree Hill. Noticing the once-an-hour bus was due in 20 minutes, we ran down the crater's edge furiously to not miss the bus.
Back at our hotel, we changed up for a nice evening of dinner at Orbit: the SkyTower's revolving restaurant serving delicious meals at 190 meters.
Dining in tower restaurants has become a vacation tradition for us and we thoroughly enjoyed the lamb and salmon. The cos salad that we ordered as an appetizer (so we thought) arrived with our meal (we learned quickly that this is norm in NZ) but was absolutely delicious. It was extremely convenient that our hotel was attached to the Tower for our one-night stay in Auckland. Exhausted from the long days of travel and all the hiking we did, we called it an early night.
You could see the entire skyline and 360 degree views of the entire region including One Tree Hill. Noticing the once-an-hour bus was due in 20 minutes, we ran down the crater's edge furiously to not miss the bus.
Back at our hotel, we changed up for a nice evening of dinner at Orbit: the SkyTower's revolving restaurant serving delicious meals at 190 meters. 
Dining in tower restaurants has become a vacation tradition for us and we thoroughly enjoyed the lamb and salmon. The cos salad that we ordered as an appetizer (so we thought) arrived with our meal (we learned quickly that this is norm in NZ) but was absolutely delicious. It was extremely convenient that our hotel was attached to the Tower for our one-night stay in Auckland. Exhausted from the long days of travel and all the hiking we did, we called it an early night.
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