We docked in Auckland about 7:30 am, and Bruce (our cruise director) came on the intercom to make the announcement required in New Zealand about not taking any agricultural products ashore. Agricultural products make up the bulk of New Zealand's exports, and they are very, very serious about trying to keep foreign pests out. They do not even allow wood or leather to be brought in (although I don’t think that applies to things like belts or coats with wooden buttons, just raw leather and plain wood). They have food-sniffing dogs at each port to detect any contraband, and they warn that the control officers can impose a fine of up to $400 on the spot for violations.

The day we landed was a Sunday, and the middle of a three-day weekend . February 6 is Waitangi Day in New Zealand, to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between the European settlers and the Maori at Waitangi Bay in 1840. The Treaty made New Zealand a part of the British Empire, guaranteed the Maori rights to their land and gave them the rights of British subjects. The entire treaty took only one sheet of paper for the English version (it was also written in Maori).

David was not feeling well, so I asked a friend to come on our tour in his place. Jeannie and I went down to the gangplank and into the maze set up by the port security officers, which included a stop for the beagle crew. One of the dogs alerted on my purse, so I had to go aside and have one of the officers go through my bag. He did not find anything, and said I had probably set it down on a table that had food on it at some time – the dogs’ noses are that sensitive! Anyway, he let me go on and join the tour.

Our tour took us to an Antarctic Encounter and the Sky Tower . The Antarctic Encounter was really interesting: they have a reconstruction of the hut built by Scott’s 1910-1913 British Antarctic Expedition. The sign on the reconstruction says that Shackleton’s Ross Sea Party of 1914-1917 also lived there. It was full of everyday things like food and beds, books and tools, but it was interesting to see that they had sewing machines, a printing press and a piano as well.

After the reconstruction, one comes out to an area that has a children’s section, a lagoon with sting rays, a penguin encounter area and tunnels through a huge aquarium filled with sharks, rays, and lots of other fish. Moving through it you see these sea creatures on both sides and above you; it’s like being in a tunnel through the sea. (In fact it may have been through the sea – the windows in the main room were below the level of the water in the bay.) There are two moving walkways in a figure 8 pattern, with non-moving lanes beside them for those like me that want to get off and take pictures of the creatures swimming around us . Jeannie and I enjoyed this so much we went around three times.

There is a track around the penguin areas that you ride a modified snow cat through – everyone gets a window, but some windows are better than others. One of the snow cats broke down and caused a delay, so we didn’t even consider doing that ride more than once. They have breeding colonies of King and Gentoo penguins in an area that simulates the subarctic conditions these penguins encounter in the wild; they even manipulate the lights and temperature to mimic the seasons in order to encourage normal breeding and molting activity. It seems to work – there were some chicks to be seen.

After the snow cat penguin ride and the aquarium tunnels you come out into a gift shop that also has several coral reef displays, with the colorful and interesting creatures that inhabit coral reefs. Also moray eels and New Zealand lobsters, which don’t have any claws but are huge! One of the more interesting displays had pregnant sea horses – big ones, about 8 inches tall .

After the Antarctic Encounter, we went to downtown Auckland and the Sky Tower. This has an observation room at its top, with glass windows inset into the floors around the edge. They have signs saying the glass is 38 millimeters thick and as strong as the concrete floors, but they still don’t get many takers brave enough to walk on them. The elevators that go up to the observation room also have glass inset into the floor, and windows on the outside. It’s kind of scary, because the elevator shaft is solid until you get about halfway up, and then suddenly you realize that the outside of the elevator car is glass because the windows appear, and you weren’t expecting that. Some people compared it to the Tower of Fear at Disneyland.

There are two sports offered at the Sky Tower in addition to a fantastic panoramic view of Auckland: Sky Jumping and walking around on a mesh deck around the outside of the tower. The jumpers jump to a target down on the ground; the walkers are harnessed and do silly tricks on a mesh walkway. While we were there, a jumper went by the window. I managed to get a picture, but it would have been better if I had realized there was a sign warning that it was about to happen. Jeannie and I decided to do a virtual Sky Jump – see picture. We were laughing so hard that lots of people came around to see what was happening and decided to get their own pictures taken; the person doing the virtual jumps had to call for help to handle the business. After that we went back to the ship.