Rangitoto island

Tues 16th
We finally managed to drag ourselves from our beds at around 11am and went out in search of breakfast. We found a little cafe that served all day full English breakfasts and feasted on toast, eggs, sausages, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes (Celso and Tris also had baked beans) and a ham like substance calling itself bacon, all washed down with a cup of tea. Fabulous! After we had finished we just had to sit for about half an hour and allow our swollen bellies to settle! Then out to explore again; we had decided to go and visit the volcano island, Rangitoto, that has ferns and birdlife unique to NZ, but by the time we made it to the ferry terminal at around 1pm we had missed the last ferry by over an hour! Just have to try again tomorrow. So it was another 4 hour stint looking through the shops, there are some fantastic metal work goats, Kiwis, Whetas (large crickets) and other creatures that have caught my eye and may just be the next souvenir that wings its way back to the UK! Celso has his eye on Tshirts that transalte the Haka and Tris just loves anything Kiwi (the bird, not the people!).
Not too impressed by Aukland the city, the architecture seems to lack character and I have found nothing to photograph at all - yet. But as the French couple we met on Easter Island told us, 'Don't bother with the cities, it is the countryside that is absolutely amazing.'

Wed 17th
After another 'full English' we made our way down to the ferry terminal and caught a very modern catamaran ferry at 10:30am to take us to Rangitoto. It was a short half hour journey (usually only 20 mins but there was some sailing competition going on so the speed limits had been reduced) with a full commentary on what we were passing, the wharves and jetties, the beaches, lighthouse and some other small islands in the natural harbour.
Then we spent 4 hours exploring Rangitoto, the youngest volcanic island in the region at only 600 years old. It still has parts where the Ah Ah lava (that is lava that cooled and solidified on the surface but molten lava underneath was still flowing and broke up the solidified crust leaving what looks like a dug up tarmac surface of jagged black rock - we learnt all about types of lava in the US!) is uninhabited except for a small scattering of lichen and moss; and then there are other regions of thick forest with towering fern trees and numerous other plants; Pohutawaka and Kowhai trees and over 40 species of ferns. We took a detour from the direct path to the summit which wound through Mr Wilson's garden, who in the 1920's attempted to make a botanical garden on the island, but is now very overgrown and apart from a couple of huge red flowers we saw little evidence of a garden at all!
It was a hot walk, difficult underfoot due to the loose rocky nature of the paths; but rewarded with spectacular views from the summit back over the harbour toward Auckland and also out to the other islands in the bay. Near the top we were fascinated by some tit like birds that flitted around us taking advantage of the fact that we disturbed insects as we walked. We were also entertained by a black bird with a white fluffy neck that warbled and trilled at us from high in the trees We found a shady spot under some trees and ate oranges before we headed back down to the wharf to get the last boat at 3:30pm. It was very windy when we got down to the sea shore and as we waited for the ferry we were entertained by a seagull that fluffed up his feathers and walked towards us begging to be given some food (we were eating bananas and chocolate!), we also took a look at the mangroves which, at low tide, were showing all the sprouting seedlings amongst their roots.