The Tallest Building in the Southern Hemisphere

I visited the Sky Tower the other day. I live about ten minutes away from the Sky Tower so it would have been a little silly for me to not take a trip to see it while I'm here in New Zealand. The only thing that had been holding me back was the cost. Prior to visiting the Sky Tower, I considered the attraction to just be an $18 elevator ride (they don't let people use the stairs). But when I finally got to the top and was able to see the shape and size of Auckland city, I was glad I made the trip.You can really see all of Auckland from that thing. We were just so high up, it was like being in a hot air balloon or a plane or like standing in the southern hemisphere's tallest building. 

Being as tall as it is, you'd think jumping off the top of it would be exciting, but the way they have it set up, it doesn't look very exciting at all. The "jumpers" just sort of step off of a platform and gently slide down a cable until they touch down on a little target on the ground. I'm pretty sure they never get to terminal velocity and I think the winch that lets out the cable actually slows the fall down. To make things more exciting, I think they should have a little staged fight on the platform and then the jumper should get pushed off in the heat of the moment. Either that or a trap door.

The views were great though. I got to see all of the little volcanos that I had been hiking around. I also got a good view of Auckland University with its "Clocktower" building and the enormous brand new business school building. The number of boats in the marina was also pretty impressive. I guess it's not much of a surprise that a country consisting of two islands would have a lot of sailing enthusiasts.

The elevators that run inside of the tower have glass floors that enable you to see exactly how fast you are moving. I think glass bottomed elevators are a good idea. In fact, I think all elevators should have a little window in the bottom or top of the car. Just imagine how much more interesting elevator rides would be.

This last photo is a picture of the highest sink in the southern hemisphere inside of the highest bathroom in the southern hemisphere.