This weekend was one of the best that I have had in New Zealand so far. Friday was the wonderful, relaxing day that I wrote about in my earlier post, and Saturday ended up being one of the most ongoing, jam packed days ever! We woke up by 6:15 to get ready and catch a public bus into down by 7:15. When we made it into town at around 8:30 we went and bought our tickets to take this ferry over to a volcanic island called Rangitoto. After we got our tickets purchased we had some time to walk around town to look at the shops and get closer to the Sky tower.
This was a cool picture I took of the sky towner. It was reflecting in the building right across the street from it!
Our ferry head out around 9:15, where we met up with most of the other girls. When we made it to the Island we got out our maps and picked a few trails that we wanted to do while we were there. Our first destination we decided was a steep hike to the summit. Emily and I lead the way for the group to the top!
After we made it to the top we decided to explore the lava caves. There was lots of volcanic rock along the trails but there a couple caves that we could climb through. We only had one torch (that’s what they call flash lights in NZ) for all 14 of us. Janet and I decided to lead the way through the caves using the red light from my camera and occasionally taking pictures and using the flash to help us get up the big rocks.
When we were done exploring the lava caves we headed back up over the summit to get to Mckenzie Bay. At one area on the way to the bay a couple of the girls and I were walking down a part of the mountain when four guys came running up the mountain, that may have been some of the most attractive guys we have seen here in New Zealand yet ha. They smiled at us as they passed. Of course we giggled together and went on our way. But that wasn’t the end of our encounters with these guys ha. We made a little picnic spot along the bay and went swimming to cool off from the intense hikes and hot sun.
Then we started a hike around the coast to make it back to where we started. We made it back to the beginning by 3:00 and the Ferry wasn’t due until 3:45. Most of the girls went and sat in the shade and rested from our big adventures. We were probably hiking for about 5 hours total on Rangetoto.
Here was our attempt at an action hiking shot! Photographer: Whitney :)
Right near where our ferry was due to pick us up there is a big wharf that I had seen some kids jumping off. I really wanted to go join them so I dragged Christine over to the wharf with me. When we got there it was a lot higher than we thought so we just sat on the edge and enjoyed a little breeze and talked. Then we saw a family with some younger aged kids start to jump off the wharf and we started watching them. Then to our pleasant surprise two of the boys that we had seen running earlier were walking near us on the wharf. One of them dived into the water and suddenly Christine and I were a little bit keener about jumping off it ourselves. After a little bit of encouragement from the family around us and the beautiful running boys we got right up to the edge of a 15 foot drop and jumped. It wasn’t as scary as bungy jumping but it was still a good ways away from the water. After, we jumped once more with the boys and the family. We got to talk to our new friends for awhile but then it was time to get onto the ferry and head home. It must have been our lucky day because these guys were also on our ferry ride home. They came and talked to Christine and I on the ride back and they told us a few things we should do while were here and one even has connections with a sail boat (which is on Christine’s and my list of things to do here). Once we got off the ferry one of guys, Josh came and gave us his number. Luckily, Phyllis had been worried about us being in the city all day so she had given us a phone. It was a great moment to have a cell phone and get connected with some fun guys here.
Next on our to do list was go purchase our Rugby Tickets! There was a professional Rugby game with the Blues vs the Crusaders. We had a couples hours before the game so we all headed over to the Chinese Lantern Festival. There were beautiful Lanterns everywhere, Chinese dancing, martial arts performances, little shops, and lots of food to try.
My favorite thing that we got was this fresh pineapple with ice cream on top! It was incredible!!!!
Finally we headed off to the rugby game, our last adventure for the evening. We piled into the stadium with hundreds of other fans. We ended up getting really great seats. We were on the end side but only about 19 rows from the field.
I have to say that rugby is the toughest sport I have ever seen. The players are brutal. I swear there were times that players got clothes lined, or punched. At one point the medics had to run out on the field and bandage one players head. It’s really intense because the game hardly stops. Even when a player gets tackled the game usually carries on.
The fans were at times even more fun to watch than the game. They were yelling and screaming and throwing their alcohol everywhere. It was a fun to finally go to a rugby game in New Zealand. I think all the girls that went are now converted Rugby fans. I started learning the rules to the game from some of my students at school, but I still need to continue to learn about it. But I loved getting to watch the game! I love rugby!
There was a free train ride to take us home after the game. Let just say it was survival of the fittest squeezing onto the train with half of the stadium. We are getting to know public transportation very well.
We were so gross from hiking, swimming in the ocean, wandering around a festival, and screaming loudly with other crazy fans at a rugby game, and now smashed on a train. My favorite part of this picture is the man in the background. Obviously a true fan.
But today was really amazing. We got to see so many great parts of Auckland. We really got some more great insights to New Zealand culture and the remarkable things it has to offer. When we got home we were exhausted. Christine and I ended our day with a cereal party in our room and then straight to bed!
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