Rangitoto Island

After our super long journey from Brisbane, we settled in for our first night in Auckland. Or at least we tried to... Having the sun up until 9pm at night really doesn't help when you're tired and just want to go to bed.

The next morning our real adventure began with a trip to Rangitoto Island, a volcanic island just off the coast of Auckland. On the short ferry trip over we had our first sighting of the Southern black-backed gull. This may not seem that interesting but when you're used to the size of the seagulls in Australia, these birds seem gigantic.

Southern black-backed gull

Once we arrived on the island, we took a 4wd tour followed by a short but steep walk to the volcano's crater. Despite the volcano having been dormant for over 600 years (or extinct depending on who you're talking to), a small part of me hoped to see lava bubbling at the surface. But, alas, the crater was crowded with trees and I wouldn't have realised it was ever a volcano had I not been told. However, it was definitely worth climbing all those stairs to see the view from the top of the volcano all the way across the water back to Auckland city.

We made it!

As a result of previous eruptions, the island is covered in basalt (almost 95% of it, so I am told). This makes for an amazing sight and is fun to explore, provided you don't trip and fall.

A stack of basalt

When we returned to the mainland, we decided to explore the harbour. There wasn't all that much to see there, until we stumbled upon a huge dockside building called the Cloud which was almost empty except for one section filled with giant versions of all the best games - chess, snakes and ladders, connect four and best of all...

GIANT JENGA!!!

Although, it wasn't THAT giant compared to the one on the Big Bang Theory (no hard hat required). Not particularly sure what the building is supposed to be, but the games section was a nice place to relax and have a bit of fun after a big day exploring.

Thar she goes!

xx Kate-Lyn