Back home in the T-dot they’re tearing up the concrete floors of the parking lot beneath me. The noise is so bad that I’ve moved my car to my mom’s place and refused my monthly car payment in protest. So imagine how thrilled I was to wake up to the sounds of hotel renovation a couple of floors above me. Actually that’s not true — I wasn’t woken up the noise because I never really feel asleep…

I headed downstairs for my first complimentary breakfast only to find the hotel restaurant full of golf shirts and bad khakis — apparently there’s some kind of conference going on at the convention centre across the street.

Despite the crowds I received prompt coffee refills until I unknowingly did something to piss my waitress off, after which she made a point of carrying her urn of black gold to every table but mine. I left her a generous tip anyway; maybe tomorrow we can be friends again.

Then it was back to the gym, and may I just say that it would be nice for someone else to have to stare at my tight ass for a change…

Here’s yours truly towering over Auckland in the Sky Tower’s Sky Deck. The photo was taken by a lovely couple from Hamilton (New Zealand, not Ontario).

From this vantage point I confirmed that there was more to the city’s waterfront than I seen the day before. That’s Harbour Bridge in the Background. You can bungee jump off of it, but that’s not surprising — you can bungee off of pretty much anything in this town.

I’m not kidding — you can even jump off of the Sky Tower! Just aim for that tiny red target at street level below.

Here’s another view of the Crowne Plaza. Click on the photo to see the Auckland Museum in the background, courtesy of Flickr. I’m holding out for Te Papa in Wellington.

Before I knew it the lunch hour arrived, so I took the opportunity to sample my first meat pie, from Pie Mania. This one was steak and cheese, and delicious!

Here’s something I haven’t seen since my first trip to Tokyo — a Toyota WiLL. I saw an ad on TV last night where a car salesman said something about being able to import vehicles directly from Japan. If this is true, Kiwi drivers are a lucky bunch indeed…

En route back to the waterfront I stopped by the Victoria Park Market. It’s pretty much a tourist trap.

A handy feature for visitors to Auckland is maps like this one. They’re on almost every corner in the downtown core.

The south end of the waterfront features high end hotels, snazzy restaurants and these harbour-facing condos, which I’m sure are very affordable…

A segregated Auckland?! Not quite — it’s the name of the national rugby team. Don’t think I’ll be bringing any official merchandise home, though.

Despite their festive headgear these asshats sold me possibly the worst salad of my entire adult life. That’s what you get when you try to save a buck on dinner…