Bethels, Devonport, and the Zoo oh my!

Got my toes in the water...

Friday after school my host mum Jan and Rachel who Elizabeth lives with brought us to the beautiful Bethels beach. We had no idea the beauty that was literally in our back yard. With a short drive from Swanson we made it to Bethels Beach. It was so incredible it is hard to put into words. On the west coast all the beaches have black sand which is completely different than what we are used to at home. It was also very sparkly like glitter was thrown everywhere but the pictures did not turn out so I just took a bunch of mental pictures instead. Rachel said that we were going to be doing a little hike all the way up to a pine tree on the top of a huge mountain. (See picture below) Needless to say we were a little  worried I am not much of hiker but I was excited for the challenge.

When we started Rachel also said she hoped we weren't afraid of heights which was another great way to get me up a mountain. We continued on stopping for photos now and then. It was a very gradual climb and we sometimes had to go through bushes and wilderness like real adventure girls which is now our new nickname. After a climb I was sweaty but at the top and let me tell you it was definitely worth it.

After our hike we then did a little more exploring and it brought us to a cave and wonderful beach. They told us that many people like to go surfing here because it is away from all the people but it can be very dangerous with the rip tides and when it gets really windy. There were no surfers when we were there and it was a calm night. Here are some pictures to describe everything because it is so hard to put it into words but these pictures can definitely tell the story.

Can you find the fisherman??

Saturday
On Saturday we got to sleep in a little and caught the train to Auckland to explore town a little more and also to go over to Devonport. We accidently went here once when returning home on a ferry and we thought hey this looks like a nice place lets go there. We took a small tour with Rod a really enthusiastic (not really) bus driver who brought us to two inactive volcanoes on Devonport. He told us about their rich history especially with the Navy and shipping industries. It seems like they were always ready for war but nothing ever happened. Our first stop was at North Head which had some underground tunnels and we could see Rangitoto Island which is a volcanic island that is  complete circle. We didn't have much time to explore but we did go in the creepy barrack things which gave me a very weird feeling but it was beautiful and such a warm day filled with sunshine we even got some color. It feels so nice but the kids at school think that it is so hot but we want to soak it all up before we have to come home to snow!

Rangatoto

Mount Victoria-Our second stop

North Head-We were standing on the volcano

Our second stop on the tour was Mount Victoria. This was up some winding roads to the top of a very high mountain. Rod told us that these volcanoes have not gone off for a very very very long time so we had no need to worry. I felt very safe in Rod's hands even though he made us move very fast form place to place. This also had some military things with a huge canon that we got to go under ground to pretend like we were actually there. We also had a really great view of the Auckland skyline. We ended our day by hopping on a ferry back to Auckland for some shopping and gelato a great way to end a wonderfully gorgeous Saturday.

Sunday
It's Sunday Sunday going to the Zoo on Sunday. Well today we got to go to the Auckland Zoo with Jan and Cory. We also met up with some of Jan's friends. We couldn't wait to go to see how similar the zoo was to the zoos we are so familiar with at home. We also had a mission to see a kiwi which is a bird and which the people from New Zealand are named for and also penguins. Everything else that we got to see was a bonus. When we got there we got to take some fun pictures in front os a green screen very funny did not buy but definitely worth a laugh. Our first stop was at Grass City where we saw some zebras, ostriches, and the giraffes were being fed. It was very cool I guess you could say the zoo was very open all outside placed in trees which made it seem like we were still in nature for the animals.

We then say the Asian Elephant Burma. It reminded me a lot of Water for Elephants I was just looking for Robert Pattinson to come out from behind the building but no luck the elephant was still awesome. Burma is all alone and will be getting a mate soon which made me happy for her. It is just so amazing to see these animals and how magnificent they are up close.

The kiwi was really one of the only things we wanted to see however they are very hard to see as they only come out at night and very shy which made our mission nearly impossible. We went to the exhibit which was in a building completely in dark which was something I have never seen. There was a little light in the glass container with a moon and then stars on the ceiling almost like you were outside on a warm night. We did see some kiwi birds however they stayed in the shadows so we didn't get any pictures we could have but people were hogging the space and then tapped the glass moved away and said oh they must be done eating rude no you scared him away for everyone else. It was still very cool to see a    symbol of the New Zealand people.

We also got to see some really cool other animals and here are a few pictures I took of my favorite ones!

Here are the penguins! If you look closely you will see the on on the left is missing its fin it had a little stub so we named him Nemo. He still seemed very happy and we wanted to take him.

We saw the baboons and a baby one he looked like he was just born so cute but the monkeys scare me who knows what they are thinking.....Rise of the Plant of the Apes it could happen. Look closely and see the baby in the middle you can click on the picture to make it bigger.

Finally we have the red panda named Amber and the emus. They were super scary creeping me out with their red eyes. I don't really like birds anyway so I was not feeling these scary guys also there was only a little fence separating us.

Overall it was a really busy weekend with a lot of great fun with great people. Now to start another week with my students we will see what it brings you never know with these crazy kids but it is always fun. Have a great Sunday and week everyone!

Cheers.