The sky tower is one of Auckland’s big landmarks, “big” in the truest sense of the word. From the ground to the top of the mast measures 328 metres (1,076 ft). That is 4 metres higher than the total size of the Eiffel tower in Paris and only 53 metres smaller than the Empire State building in New York!
It is the tallest free-standing structure in the southern Hemisphere and the one building that you can see from almost every corner of the city.
And if you walk along Queens Street coming a little bit closer to the tower, looking up carefully you might be able to see little orange dots moving around far up in 192 metres. This week I was one of those orange dots!
That can’t be too crazy! It’s only high up and I’m secured in a harness, it’s basically just walking with a little breeze in my hair, right?
Well, let me tell you that: looking down 192 metres turns walking straight ahead into a challenge, the breeze feels like a storm that could easily blow you away and the 1,2 metres wide platform feels like a small rope you have to perform a balance act on! A challenge I was happy to take for the fun, the experience, all the laughers we had up in the air and for the breath-taking view we were rewarded with!
At 2:45 I checked in for the sky walk to find myself soon enough, dressed in the incredibly good looking orange overalls plus harness, in the elevator to make my way with my little group to the top. All bobby pins, ear rings, bracelets and everything that could possibly fly away were taken off and the shoes could not have been tighter – all save!
After a couple of floors the glass door of the elevator offered a first glance at the city - “seems pretty high already, ey?”
Finally at the platform you could see in everybody’s face how the perspective changes the feeling for the size of the tower when everything down at the street turns into little children’s play toys! But this is where the thrill and the adventure started! When you step with your toes just over the edge of the walkway, when your knees shake while you slowly sit down into your ropes to walk back until you hang with your body in the sky over Auckland, this is when the adrenalin kicks in and gives you the incredible feeling of pure excitement!!
After some 15 minutes I slowly started to lose the grip around my rope, my legs found stability again and I enjoyed the fascinating view over the city while listening to our guides explanations of the areas around the Sky Tower.
What an amazing afternoon that I won’t forget in a long time!
This isn’t enough of a kick for you? No problem! Jump of the edge and do the Sky Jump! An 11 seconds with an average speed of 85 kilometres an hour should release all of the adrenalin that’s left in you!
Check our site to buy your ticket for SkyWalk!
