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Published: February 8th 2009
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7 feb
Amanda at the Ferry Port Saturday 7th February saw a slightly later morning than Friday and Milly (Emily) and I decided to do a bit of shopping for essential items such as shoes, bags, chocolate etc... Incidentally I bought an amazing pair of Jesus sandals for $20 which is about £8 and a handbag for $15.90 which is about £6.50...After our bargain hunting we met up with Greg, Amanda and Ben and went over to Devonport for the afternoon. Devonport is a 15 minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland and has fantastic views of the city. After a snack we went for a wander around the town discovering that the Wellington rugby sevens was on and televised in the local bar. Amanda had to leave at that point and whilst the boys took her back to the ferry terminal, Milly and I watched a few of the matches. England were to play Kenya in the semi final later that afternoon so we decided we would go for a walk around and then come back to watch it.
Our walk took us up to North Head, a big hill on the end of the peninsula where we were able to get a fantastic view of the Luis
7 Feb 1
Ben pointing at the American!? Vuitton yacht races. After watching this for a while and seeing the french sail break spectacularly (and expensively) we made our way back down to the town to watch England.
After England's victory over the Kenyans in the semi-final we went for dinner at a little restaturant which hands down does the best Caesar salad i've ever tasted.
We decided then to get the ferry back to downtown Auckland as the sun was setting to watch the final (coincidentally against New Zealand) in the local sports bar. After a somewhat shaky start to the match which saw us 17 - 0 down the English fought back and we beat the Kiwis 19-17 😊
This morning (Sunday) saw Greg and I with an early start as the two of us had decided to visit the island of Rangitoto.Rangitoto is created from a very young Volcano (only 600 years old) and commands spectacular 360 degree views of Auckland and the Hauraki Gulf. We arrived on the island by ferry before ten and set off on our hike. The walk to the summit, whilst looking a very long way is only meant to take an hour, and after power walking the first,
flatter part, the two of us made it up on 45. (To those of you reading this who know my 'love' for walking laugh all you want - yes I did go on a good hike and I went on it voluntarily!)
The terrain is so natural up there and is all just solid lava (geography enthusiasts please correct me if I'm using the wrong term here) so basically the ground is covered in black rock that looks somewhat like soil so you expect it to be soft but it is 'rock' hard (excuse the pun). The views from the top though are magnificent and well worth the punishing up hill trek towards the end. After returning on the ferry, Greg and I made it back to the hostel and decided we would cook dinner for everyone of Macaroni Cheese (with sausage and crusty bread) and Ice Cream for pudding.
In other news, two more travellers volunteers have arrived! Emily (Richards) and Tess Johnson. Both are teaching at a special needs school with Amanda doing physiotherapy. I look forward to getting to know them better.
One final note! On our wander around Devonport we were lucky enough to
7 Feb 4
View from the ferry to Devonport speak to a charming young Kiwi who came out with in what is in our opinion, the best chat up line in history. ' If you don't like raisins, are you keen for a date?'
I hope you like the photos!
Beth
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Rach
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mmmmm caesar salad!!! Lol... looks as though you are ALREADY having an amazing time! (jealous of the sun! - it snowed again here in Sheff today) Love you. xxx