Rangitoto Volcano

Yesterday I went and hiked Rangitoto Volcano which sits in the Hauraki Gulf. The island is a 25 minute ferry ride from Auckland. You can see Rangitoto from pretty much any elevated area in Auckland. It's pretty cool. The island was formed about 600 years ago when the volcano erupted. They do not know how long it took for the island to form or when the last time was that it erupted but they do know it has been a while. There are trees on the island that are 225 years old and it takes a while for trees to grow on a completely volcanic island so they think maybe the last time it erupted was approximately 500 years ago. They do know that Maori people were on the island at some point because there are footprints in the volcanic ash. Anyways, I made a few videos yesterday, finally, so here they are:

Me on the Pier in Auckland City waiting to leave. 

Me on the top of volcano looking out over the Hauraki Gulf.

Looking out over Auckland City.

I have photos as well but I don't have time to upload right now.

Yesterday I also got my hair cut, well actually trimmed. Julie, one of my co-workers at Ortolana, has a flatmate that cuts hair so I got a good haircut for $20 NZD. Nice!

What else? Not much - I went to my NZ family's house yesterday for dinner. They are all coming to Mpls in 3 weeks and very exciting. After they leave Mpls, their daughter, Rosie, will be taking a 3 week tour of the Southern US. She will be going to pretty much every big city in the south between LA and DC and then up to NYC. It sounds like a totally AMAZING trip! So jealous!

Okay, that's all for now. I need to do a few errands before work. I'll post more photos from Rangitoto tonight in my post as well as fill you in on what a Feijoa is.

Best!