Day 27: There's Sheep Doo Everywhere

Today was such a busy day! We started off the morning with our great continental breakfast buffet and headed over to Auckland University. I knew it was going to be good because we have the same initials (AU and AU just in case you were wondering We had a meeting with the dean of the civil engineering program and several of her Ph.D students that had focuses in several other fields of construction and engineering. They gave a presentation about construction in New Zealand and hosting a Q&A session about the discrepancies between American and New Zealand construction. Then the Ph.D students showed us around campus which was beautiful. 

Beautiful Clock tower at A.U. (Samford Hall?)

After a quick lunch, we hopped a bus over to the edge of town and started our scenic hike to the One Tree Hill Memorial. It was an easy hike except for climbing up the grassy hills and trekking through the valleys following herds of sheep. Which means there was "doo" everywhere, hint the title. We found out once we got to the top there was a paved trail that would have made the hike much easier, but where would be the fun in that. The views were breathtaking and the weather felt phenomenal. People were snapping pictures right and left and everyone was just soaking in the landscape. I was so glad I got a chance to see this. I'll never forget it.

At the bottom of the valley

Almost to the top!

Finally made it

After we hiked back down the mountain we took a bus home for a quick shower and headed down to Viaduct Harbor for dinner. It was beautiful and I enjoyed some New Zealand kingfish at Foxes (it was on special Mom and Dad) and we walked over to the world famous Sky Tower. It reminds me of the space needle in the United States but it looks a little more like something out of Star Wars. Once we rode the lift 60 floors to the top, we were standing at the highest point in the Southern Hemisphere. It was crazy. We walked over several areas of glass floor that was fairly nerve-racking, which isn't a good sign if I want to go sky diving in Queenstown. We took lots of pictures and had a drink at the Sky Bar (not as good as the one in Auburn) and enjoyed the breath-taking 360 degree view. I just got home and am immediately about to pass out from the long, but enjoyable day. We are going to the Unitec Polytechnical University tomorrow! War Eagle!

Viaduct Harbour

The Sky Tower