Rangitoto

Yesterday Jesse and I went to Rangitoto Island, which is a volcanic island formed 600 years ago. A 25-minute ferry to the island gets you about 5 hours of incredible views and relatively easy hiking. Auckland is surrounded by little islands and volcanoes, and many of them are accessible by ferry.

The day was warm, sunny, and just perfect, despite two separate assurances from kiwis that it would rain. We joke at home that weathermen are useless in Indiana because the weather can change so rapidly, but the unpredictability of the weather here puts home to shame.

It was a beautiful day, and when we came back to the city for a bite and a glass of wine, we were befriended by a gentleman who ended up treating us to some company and a couple of bottles of wine. Life is funny.

This video is for Gretchen, avid bird enthusiast and avid blog reader. You can't see the little feller in the video, but I'm pretty sure it was this guy. Hi Gretchen!