New Zealand’s tallest building is the Sky Tower in Auckland on the North Island. At 328 m in height, it is an icon of Auckland’s skyline.
There are glorious views over the City of Sails from the top, which we enjoyed from the Level 50 Sky Cafe.
On offer for the brave is the Sky Walk on Level 60, a handrail-free walk around the 1.2 m wide rim (with attachment rope), or the Sky Jump, an ultimate leap of faith with nothing but an abseiling wire between yourself and the ground below, reaching 85 kmph on descent.
I stood at the base looking up, watching as several folk took the plunge and even with my two feet firmly on the ground, it made my stomach flip.
The tower was designed by Gordon Moller, of Craig Craig Moller Architects and built in 1994. It is constructed of steel, pre-cast concrete and reinforced concrete. The tower is designed to withstand wind in excess of 200 kph and designed to sway up to 1 m in excessively high wind.
Link to image of tower from across the harbour: www.flickr.com/photos/112623317@N03/54189975604/in/datepo...
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Tags: auckland sky tower auckland new zealand building with blue sky reinforced concrete tower pourewa rangi city of sails auckland cbd 1990s architecture telecommunications tower observation tower abseiling tower abseiling looking up tower architecture gordon moller craig craig moller architects ccm architects modern architecture auckland city skyline city skyline cityscape i know where you are images on blue outdoor photography aotearoa rappel
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A bright and beautiful epiphytic orchid...the vibrant and dynamic flowers certainly catch the eye.
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Tags: Orchid Plant Botany Flora Orchidaceae Purple Flower Latitude 23 Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney NSW Australia Nature Nature Photography Flower Photography Pink Dof Depth of Field Foliage Vibrant Bright Natural World Garden Epiphyte Epiphytic
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What an awesome summertime stormy sky with curious clouds ; perhaps mammatus clouds or the beginnings thereof.
Hail and heavy rain began to fall soon after I took this shot.
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Tags: mammatus clouds there's a storm brewing storm clouds australia nsw new south wales grey clouds summer summer in australia meteorology weather outdoor photography curious clouds jewells
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A large, robust female Opisthoncus (perhaps quadratarius) pausing a while on a sandstone rock.
Opisthoncus is found in Australia, New Guinea and New Britain. I believe we have around thirty species here in Australia, but some of these may be misplaced or unnamed.
Around 10 mm body length
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Tags: jumping spiders of australia jumping spider salticidae opisthoncus opisthoncus quadratarius araneae arachnid invertebrate arthropod jumping spider macro spider macro macro photography nature natural world nature photography australia fauna nsw new south wales summer summer in australia outdoors dof depth of field spider on sandstone female opisthoncus
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Much like the salticids, oxyopid spiders move about by jumping from surface to surface - as did this tiny one that led me on a merry dance as I tried to get a shot - this image just before she (yet again), leapt away to another spot.
Oxyopes elegans female, 5 mm body length
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Tags: lynx spider elegant lynx spider oxyopes elegans oxyopidae oxyopid araneae spider arachnid invertebrate arthropod fauna spiders of australia nsw new south wales australia tiny small macro photography nature leaping lynx spider
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