I made it up to the Sky Tower today. At 328 meters, measured to the top of the antenna, it is the highest man-made structure in the Southern hemisphere.

Funny how each and every city I have visited has somehow the highest something of the southern hemisphere, be it Santiago, Melbourne or Auckland… I guess if you make up more and more categories you can satisfy everyone…

Anyhow, the tower is impressive. It’s the dominating feature of the skyline. It serves as a telecommunications hub for radio, TV, wireless internet transmissions  and weather measurements.

But of course it’s a major tourist attraction (half a million every year) and view point over Auckland and its surroundings. On top, you can eat in the revolving restaurant and circle the tower in one hour.

The fearless can book a bungee jump from the top. Not totally free, you’re guided down by two metal cables, to make sure you’re not smashing into the tower… I watched it a couple of times from above, and below, but not without getting sweaty hands.

Alternatively, you can walk around freely around the observation deck, only held by cables, but without hand rails.

The views are great, you can see far around Auckland, Waitemata Harbor and Hauraki Gulf, with Rangitoto Island featured prominently in the background…

You also get a pretty good view over the Auckland volcanic field, with its many cones. You can easily identify around 20 volcanos from above in all directions. I will head to Mount Eden soon, to enjoy the view from there.

To the south, Manukau Harbor is not far away, so you can see how narrow the land bridge is on which Auckland sits… From the top of the tower you can actually see both the Tasman Sea, and, to the north, the Pacific Ocean.

I like seeing cities from above, it gives you a hole new idea of geography and how the neighborhoods interconnect.