In Auckland, or out of Auckland? That is the Question.

You voted! And by popular demand (a whopping vote of 4-3), it's been decided that you want to hear about my two weeks/weekends pre-Fiji. I decided not to make another blog series yet and to, instead, just post about my weekend adventures. This specific post will actually be about two weekends worth of experiences. What can you expect? Well, this will probably be a tad bit longer than the past six blogs, but it shouldn't be as long as some of my earlier ones! Either way, if you want to scroll through just to look at the pictures, I completely understand. If, however, you are planning on reading, I guess I better get started!😊

But wait! It's been awhile since I've posted pictures of Ava and our daily activities...so here's a few to show you what we've been up to - well what we were up to in August that is!

 Beach Day! The sun was out so we headed down to Browns Bay Beach for some sand play and shell collecting. The ocean was still quite cold but that didn't stop Ava from putting her feet in for a quick feel!

 One day, Ava wanted to have her hair in a bun - just like me. Of course I couldn't say no to that!

Chalk art is always fun. I love that she knows she's an artist!

Fun with Snapchat filters! 

Back in August, Ava really got into picnic lunches outside and is still enjoying them now in October. (We just had one recently in fact!) I don't mind at all!😊 And if you're wondering 

what's in her hair...it's hair chalk. I turned my back for one minute and then...🙈

Alright, alright...enough of these adorable pictures. Let's get back to the weekend adventures!

SATURDAY, AUGUST 25TH

I had been waiting over a month for this day. Why, you ask? Well today was the day I was going to go see my FIRST RUGBY GAME! We were playing the rival Australian team - the Wallabies. New Zealand's team, the All Blacks, had just beaten Australia the week before so I thought it should be a pretty good game. Since the game was in the evening, I spent the morning walking along the beach and enjoying the fresh NZ air.

Browns Bay Beach...do you remember the name of the volcano in the distance?

Later on, I met Christina in Ponsonby where the Fan Trail to Eden Park began. We also met up with another friend of Christina's and we began the 2.3 km walk to the game! Right away at the start, we got free jelly beans and our faces painted so we looked like proper All Blacks fans. 😄 Along the way, there were various groups singing or dancing and people walking around on stilts entertaining the fans. We even got a free rugby ball from a business (yes, I totally plan on bringing this home with me). I enjoyed the walk and before we knew it, we arrived at Eden Park.

One of the music groups playing on the trail.

One of the many "Fan Trail" signs along the 2.3 km walk to Eden Park.

Our gate entry.

Christina, Christina, and Krista - yes you read that correctly.😂

I loved this design!

Once we got in and found our seats, we were able to watch the end of the women's game before the guys started. Oh! They were also handing out team pictures and signs for free to cheer the All Blacks on during the game - cool, right? The girls won and Christina and I went to grab dinner and a drink. The first time we went, the lines were quite short, but when we went back for another drink...ufda. LINES EVERYWHERE! I don't quite remember the number in attendance, but I think it was around 48,000.😱

Saturday Night Lights.

The teams came onto the field and each country's anthem was sung - New Zealand's was sung twice. The first time through was in Māori and then it was sung in English. After that, the players lined up and the All Blacks performed the haka. I'll include a clip down below of what I recorded, but here's a LINK to a better quality video. The All Blacks commonly perform the Ke Mate Haka which is a ceremonial haka celebrating the triumph of life over death. Once the players finished their dance, the teams got into position for the kick-off and the game began! I knew the basics of rugby, but there were still plays or fouls I didn't completely understand. The atmosphere in the stadium was infectious because the fans really got into the game - it's how I'd imagine I'd be at a Vikings game! 🏉🏈 At one point, the entire stadium did the wave! If you don't know how rugby works, here's a LINK with the basic rules. What you should know is that there are two 40 minute halves with a 10 minute halftime. When a team runs the ball across their try line, and grounds it, they score 5 points. Then, one player is awarded a conversion kick that adds another 2 points if it makes it through the uprights. 

Ignore the quality, but here's the NZ anthem.

A clip of the Ke Mate Haka.


When the All Blacks scored, there was fire. 🔥

At halftime, the All Blacks were up 14-7. I guess this was common for them to start slow and then finish strong...which is what they did. The cool thing was after halftime, the teams switched sides and so the All Blacks were scoring at the "end zone" where we were sitting. So we saw a lot of action! When it was all said and done, the All Blacks won the game with a score of 40-12. I met up with my host mom and her friend after the game to catch the bus back home. Oh! I forgot to mention right as the game began, it started to rain (for less than a minute). Thankfully we were covered by the seating above us so we didn't get wet. I absolutely LOVED going to this game and it made me even more determined to get to a Vikings game next season!

Posing with my free rugby ball, All Blacks sign, and my host mom (Jane).

SUNDAY, AUGUST 26TH
I was able to sleep in after the late night festivities before driving up north to meet Annika at Shakespear Regional Park. Due to some GPS issues on my phone, I arrived a little late but at least I got there! We decided to postpone our lunch and instead walk the Heritage Trail to do some geocaching - there were quite a few! Before you get too concerned, I won't be posting all of the pictures of the caches we found (because that would be 12). The trail cut through the forest, over fields full of sheep, and along a gravel road on a 3.9 km loop.

Beginning of the trail.

The first section brought us through the forest and by some classic cool NZ trees and a mini waterfall. We were successful in finding the four caches in that section before we hit the field portion of the walk. There were only a few people on the trail so we pretty much had it to ourselves.

When we got to the field, we were greeted by sheep and lambs. They were so cute! Of course a few minutes were spent trying to get pictures of the animals before they ran off. At the midway point, there was a lookout for us to go up and see a 360° view of the park. Even though it was a bit overcast, it was still a beautiful sight.

 The field portion of the hike...I have an ADORABLE picture of a couple lambs I'll be posting later.

 Sheep selfie!

View from the lookout.

We decided to head down the road instead of walking to Pink Beach. Yes, we found the caches along the way of course and soon we were at the famous picture frame in the park. Naturally, there was a group of people taking pictures with it so we just waited patiently until they were finished. We were asked to take a group picture and then they reciprocated for us. AND THEN a couple of the people wanted to take a picture WITH us! 🤣 We felt weird and a little famous when it was all said and done? More than anything we got a good laugh out of it! The group still took pictures after, so we found a cache nearby and waited until they left. Finally, we had our 10 minutes with the frame (not even) before continuing all the way back to the beach where we parked our vehicles.

There are frames like this all over NZ. Also, we didn't get our full group picture since they took it with their phones...oh well!

 Having fun with the frame!

Before we got to the beach, there were two more caches to find! We weren't sure about one of them as a few previous people hadn't been able to find it. However, we persevered for a good 20+ minutes and ultimately made the find for the smiley face. Very rewarding!

A tricky hide, but worth the minutes spent looking for it!

Back at the beach, we went to an awesome tree to eat our lunch and chit chat. After, we decided we still had time and energy to grab the last few caches in the park. We carpooled to another area, saw the group of people who took a picture with us, "hid" from the people, and then went in search of the caches! With only a tiny bit of misdirection, we found two more before making the final hike to the last cache and the field full of sheep and lambs. 

 Lunch location. 

 This, my friends, is a Pukeko. Sometimes they can be roadkill, but they're quite an interesting looking bird!

Classic Kiwi.

The final cache in the park ended up being behind the fence surrounding the field...and in the bush a little. We hopped the fence and walked along down a hill and around trees until we found it in the roots of a tree. I got it out, we took a picture (because it was too wet to sign), and then we went back up to check out the sheep and lambs. 

Annika snagged a short video of me trying to get the cache out using a stick. I mean, who knows how many spiders I would've had crawling on me if I'd just used my hands?! 😉

We spent some time just enjoying the scenery and animals. It was such a classic NZ moment to see the green hills, sheep, and the ocean. I loved it! The little lambs were so adorable when they jumped and ran. While in the field, we heard a louder "bahhhh" and noticed a lamb had somehow gotten on the other side of the fence and separated from its family. Hopefully that got sorted out!

 That ADORABLE lamb picture I mentioned earlier? Yeah, this is it. ❤ #postcardworthy

So fun to see so many sheep!

 I mean, are you even surprised?

Classic NZ.

Enjoy the sounds of sheep...and my footsteps.

We made our way back to the vehicle with a quick stop to snap a picture of the full moon. It was a lovely ending to our time in Shakespear. Annika drove back to the beach we started at, I picked up my car, and then we drove to Silverdale to meet Clara for dinner. The evening ended with a good meal and even better conversation. I got back to the house late-ish, but ready for another week of work!

Yes, I realize the cloud blocks the moon a bit, but I love how this picture has the colorful sky, green hill, trees, the ocean, sand, and the moon. The combination is wonderful!

See the 12 smiley's? That's because we found all 12 caches. The gray ones are for people who pay for geocaching (I don't).

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST

This was the last Saturday before Clara and I were off to Fiji. Instead of going somewhere for a weekend trip, we stayed around Auckland and I FINALLY got to go to Rangitoto. It was about time since I look at it pretty much every day! Clara had spent the night at my place and Annika, Sophia, and Leticia picked us up before we headed into the city to catch the ferry to the island. Sophia and Leticia are two new au pairs we met - Sophia works near Clara and Annika and Leticia was the first au pair I've met from the States (California). It was a bit overcast going in so we hoped it would clear up for us to get a good skyline view of the city when we got to Rangitoto. Before getting on the ferry, we had to clean the dirt off of our shoes and make sure our bags were clean. Rangitoto is a pest free island so they're very careful of people bringing in pests and unwanted seeds. On the way there, we stood up on top which proved to be a windy and chilly choice. Oh well...I enjoyed the view at least!

 Approaching Rangitoto.

Arch at the end of the bridge. Just behind this, we found our first geocache of the day!

We started our time on the island with a cache find and then got on a path through the woods. It turned out we really didn't want to go that way as it was quite long and we only had about 4-5 hours on the island before the last ferry left so....we found our way back to the direct path to the top and stayed on that for the rest of the time. Thankfully, the fog and clouds had lifted enough for us to catch glimpses of Auckland and the Skytower. Close to the top, we took a little side trip to the Lava Caves. Now, you could walk/crawl/go through these caves if you wanted. However, I just stuck with the one I could see the light shining through from the other side...just to be safe. 

 I spy Auckland!

 I climbed through a wee cave. 

We reached the top and admired the view over the ocean, other islands, and Auckland. Since it was a nice day, there were plenty of people up at the top as well. I think I spotted the general area where Browns Bay was at least! With no restaurants or grocery stores on Rangitoto, we had to bring our own picnic lunch to eat. During lunch, we noticed a helicopter flying close. Initially, I just thought it was passing over. But, we were soon made aware of a girl who had hurt her leg/ankle on the way up and had to have an emergency rescue. We had to move away but it was incredible to see how skilled the pilot and his comrades were at getting the girl safely strapped in and up into the helicopter. Don't worry - she didn't seem to be terribly hurt, but probably just hurt enough to be unable to make the hike back down. That was our Saturday excitement!

 At times, I felt like I was on the set of LOST.

 View over Auckland.

Rescue chopper.

On the way down, Annika and I took off on a trail to another cache. This brought us to a quiet part of the island with a lovely view. We had a little bit of trouble with the cache, but got it sorted out! The others joined us and we continued along the trail until it met up with the main trail down to the bottom. It was getting close to the time when the last ferry was due to arrive, but we made it down with plenty of time to spare. Clara shared some homemade banana bread and then we were on the ferry back to Auckland.

Looking towards Motutapu Island.

View from the last cache we found on the island...gorgeous!

Back on land, we found ONE more cache before heading to Takapuna to do an...ESCAPE ROOM! We had decided on the ferry that the day was still young and since it was beginning to be a bit dreary out, an escape room seemed like the best option. We booked the "Asylum" room and our escape began. Initially, we were a bit stuck but soon enough the pieces began to fall into place. When it was all said and done, we only needed 1 clue (so close to none!) to successfully escape. It was a fun time and the first time I had done a room with more than three people in it! After, we were starving so Annika, Sophia, and Leticia grabbed something in Takapuna while Clara and I waited until we were back in Browns Bay to eat curry. 😊

Final cache of the day.

We escaped!

Clara, Sophia, Leticia, Annika, and Yours Truly.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND

With a rainy day on the horizon, Clara and I decided to hit up the Auckland War Memorial Museum. This museum and memorial is actually one of the more important ones in New Zealand. The various collections inside focus on New Zealand's history (especially the Māori), natural history, and military history. History really isn't my thing, but I did enjoy walking throughout the museum - for 4.5 hours! - and learning about New Zealand's struggles and triumphs, as well as the importance of the flora and fauna throughout the country. Even though it's a different culture, there are always similarities in the history of how the country, its people, laws, and leaders came to be. Below are just a few of the pictures I took of some different exhibits.

 It is an impressive museum.

"The whole earth is a sepulchre of famous men. They are commemorated not only by columns and inscriptions in their own country, but in foreign lands also by memorials graven not on stone but on the hearts of men."

Moana's boat! "Moana" in Māori means "ocean." The movie (Moana) was based, in part, off of New Zealand's Polynesian culture.

A Māori meeting house. We had to take our shoes off before entering.

Some traditional ornamental jewelry made from animal bone and teeth.

I left a note in the "Women and Equality" section of the museum...any guesses at which one is mine? 😉

Yes, this looks massive. But it's quite tiny compared to other trees in NZ!

Fun fact. Auckland is built on a volcanic field. This field is made up of about 50 volcanoes spread throughout the city. The most recent eruption was about 600 years ago when Rangitoto was formed. Excuse me while I catch a plane back to MN. 😜

There was a fun, interactive butterfly exhibit towards the end where we were able to design a butterfly and look at thousands of butterflies from Ray Shannon's collection. 

I think this is about 13,000 butterflies - how beautiful and crazy!

We stayed until closing and then headed off to grab dinner - but not before finding a cache by the museum! Clara hadn't had Mexican yet, so we got Mexican. Oh! Another fun fact for you all...today was Father's Day in New Zealand. The restaurant was busy, but thankfully there was room for us. The food was pretty good, but nothing like Mexican back home! Next up was a stop by K-Mart for some last minute Fiji necessities. I also happened to find a giraffe mask. Enjoy.

😍

The night ended with some McDonald's ice cream before Clara headed back up to Snells Beach. Even though I stayed around the Auckland area this weekend, I enjoyed exploring more of the city I'm living near - with friends.

IN OTHER NEWS...

Gingersnap raised their prices a bit...I wasn't impressed. 🙄

There you have it! The last two weekends before I flew off to Fiji. Next blog? I can probably guarantee it won't be about Fiji...sorry! That one will take a bit of time to organize and narrow down the pictures I want to include in the blog. You can look forward to reading about post-Fiji next time since I've done a lot since then as well! Until then....🖑