Kiwi Paradise : City of Sails

Weekends = pack in as much as possible at the cheapest price. They have a pass here called the discovery day pass where you pay $16 and you can use any bus, ferry, or train for the next 24 hours. It's awesome! So we got up early, ate a quick breakfast and ran to catch the bus. It was about an hour ride into the city but it dropped us off right by the ferry building where we met the rest of our group. Auckland has a population of roughly 1.4 million and with its miles of ports and coastline it is a sight to behold. There are a few sky scrapers with the most famous of them all being the sky tower, which is shaped similarly to the space needle in Seattle.

Our first stop of the day was to ride the ferry across the harbor to a small port called Devonport. It's a quant little town that dates back to the early 1900s (some buildings earlier depending on where you go). The peninsula originates from two old volcanos that stopped erupting thousands of years ago. The Maori used the volcanos to set up defenses for their villages because they offer a 360 degree view of the harbor. Most of the girls in our group stayed by the shops but Sara and I ventured off to go hiking. We hiked up Mt. Victoria (more like a giant hill) first. The view was absolutely breathtaking with a giant volcano visible to the northwest, the city of Auckland to the south/southeast. Sail boats dodge the bigger vessels slowly chugging their way into Auckland's main port and compete with each other for the best wind while lazy yachts zigzag up and down the coastline. I could have stayed up there all day and still have wanted more.

We also ventured over to the northhead of the island where the ruins of an old british fort are still visible. We even explored down and around the tunnels underneath the fort they used to use during military engagement. It was a bit creepy since some of the passageways were quite narrow but that didn't stop us from exploring. Our greatest discovery involved an old fireplace and some cool graffiti. We met up with the other girls for lunch (we had packed ours all thanks to Julie for taking such good care of us) and then headed back into the city.

We spent the rest of the day walking around, visiting shops, and exploring. We walked past the sky tower (we'll go up there another day) and all along the warfs (like giant piers). We watched the sail boats drift in and out of the harbor and compared which yacht looked more expensive. We walked down to some steps where you could put your feet in the water. I couldn't get enough of the beautiful sea green color of the water. Oh and being so close to the harbor of course we had to stop by the fish market (I couldn't connivence everyone to go so just a few of us went). I saw the largest lobster I've ever seen along with live eels and sea urchins. There were lots of fish varieties but in all honesty it was a pretty small fish market. I expected it to be more packed and with more variety. Don't get me wrong- it was pretty cool but a lot calmer than I thought a fish market would be.

By that point the rest of the girls were ready to go home. We had walked quite a bit plus the wind had picked up and started blowing a lot more. But Sara and I decided that we weren't done (all thanks to my upbringing mom :) we had to get our moneys worth) so we took the ferry to and from Devonport one more time (Sara had never ridden a ferry before today). We walked around some other parts of the city before catching our bus and heading home. After the bus dropped us off we stopped by the shops by our house and picked up some fish and chips. And just in case the day wasn't perfect enough we ate our fish and chips with some tip top ice cream (the brand) while watching a few episodes of Gilmore girls. We fell asleep by 10:30 absolutely exhausted but it was totally worth