New Zealand

When we checked into our hotel in Auckland, we were told that they were expecting a cyclone the first two days we were there. What? I'm used to heavy Texas rain and hailstorms but had never been in a cyclone before. It ended up being a blessing because we slept in the next day (expecting we would be stuck in our hotel) and caught up on some much needed rest from our early flight the day before. We looked out the window after waking up and found that people were walking around the streets and it wasn't even raining. Apparently the rain had come and gone in the night, so we ventured outside with some wind and sprinkling here and there. Not wanting to go to the beach, as it was cold and we weren't sure what the strong wind would do to the waves, we had fun walking around the city, feeding the birds at a park, and just taking it easy.

Albert Park in the middle of Auckland:

The pigeons were kind of creepy, but the sparrows were so cute! The little guys would jump up and eat out of our hands.

On Sunday after church, we walked nine (yes, 9) miles round trip to and from Mission Bay. It was a beautiful beach, even in the overcast weather, and the perfect thing to do on a Sunday.

View of downtown Auckland from the Tamaki Drive bridge:

Rangitoto Island in the background, the largest volcano in Auckland:
 

After taking it easy for two days and the storm and overcast skies had passed, we wanted to spend our last two days of the trip enjoying the nice weather. On Monday morning, we woke up before the sun and hiked to Mount Eden, a dormant volcano that has amazing views of everything around it - ocean, city, sky, everything. This was one of my favorite parts of Auckland, after we made it to the top, of course. :)

 Just before the sun rose:

The tip of the sun poking out from behind the mountains:

Looking more and more like fire in the sky:

The 150-foot deep crater:

Since the day had just begun, we decided to hike yet another (dormant) volcano -- the one we could see from Mission Bay the day before. So, we hopped on a ferry that took us over to Rangitoto Island. It was fairly hot and the reflection of the sun on the black volcanic rock all around us wasn't making it any better, but the 360-degree view from the top made it all worth it. Here are some shots from our day at Rangitoto:

We ditched our big camera, so these are iPhone shots. It looked even more amazing than this!

The water was so clear and aqua that even the clouds had shadows:

 

Looking in the opposite direction:

Hiking around some caves on our way down the volcano:

We were obsessed with the clouds! And of course the water.

On our last day, we took a ferry to Waiheke Island, having heard really good things about it. We kayaked for a couple of hours in the morning, ate a picnic lunch on one of the beaches, came upon a huge vineyard, and then spent the rest of the day swimming, looking for seashells before high tide came in, drawing in the sand, taking pictures, swimming some more, and grabbing some Chinese food for dinner in one of the neighborhoods.

Yes, the water really is that green:

He worked on this for almost an hour. :)

 This is what Adam will be doing in heaven:

Our view while eating dinner:

At the end of the day, we walked back to the dock hand in hand and caught the ferry back to Auckland while watching the sun set. It was seriously the perfect day. We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to go on this amazing trip together. Here's to more traveling in the future and to the beautiful world God created for us!