Auckland Day Three

Yesterday was my last day in Auckland and I'm happy to say I finished my bucket list for the city.

I took a ferry to Devonport,  which is a town across the harbour from Auckland in the North Shore. Devonport is a super cute town and is the main naval base for NZ. Upon arrival,  I hiked up Mt. Victoria and enjoyed beautiful views of the city and surrounding suburbs.  It was amazing!  After,  I stopped in town for some sushi and delicious chocolates that were made in house.

I attended my second rugby game between the Vodafone Warriors and Melborne Storm. This league is technically a little lower level then the previous game I attended but it was definitely not obvious.  The stadium was a similar size (very big! ) with tons of intense fans. Coincidentally,  I sat next to a guy wearing a Steelers hat- I set him straight :) During the game,  they honored a player for being with the club for 10 years which I thought was amazing,  especially for a rugby player. I shared my excitement in attending a big time rugby game with many people over the past few days,  all of which expressed a huge interest in American football which I thought was great.

Next, I drove up two hills that offer great views of the city. One Tree Hill (not the TV show- one of my favorites!) got its name for the single tree on the giant hill. Unfortunately,  it was cut down by an "activist"  as I was told, but the views were still great!  Mt Eden offered some fabulous views as well and had a very interesting crater in the middle (see pics below). I officially took about 50 pictures of the skyline - just so beautiful!

I ended the night with some amazing calamari and an early bedtime. I don't know how,  but I'm still managing to sleep 10-11 hours a night... not a trend I can afford to continue when this wonderful trip comes to an end.  In the morning,   I left Auckland and my German roommates and headed to my first school!