Mt. Victoria

After the hike up Rangitoto, I went up Mt. Victoria. Mt Victoris was a naval base for the British back in the day, and still has a "disappearing cannon" on it.

Another view of Rangitoto

Hike Up Rangitoto!

Today, I decided to finally hike up the backdrop to so many pictures of Auckland. Rangitoto Island.
Auckland's newest and biggest volcano, and it was still warm! (might have had something to do with the sun and black rocks though....)

The Crater at the top 

The Lava Caves that are on the hike down! 

Swinging at one of the Historic Bactchs on the island

New Life Motto? 

Crossfit Open 15.2

Round 2! I was a little disappointed with the results from the first, so the second should go better!

It Didn't! Doing it RX made it very heavy for me.... I decided I needed to Re-do it.

Crossfit Open 15.1 & 15.1A

Today..... is the day. The first workout of the Crossfit Open! for those of you not in the cult, the open is the same workout across the world, that ranks all the athletes (and determines who goes to regionals, and then to the Crossfit Games). This is the first open since I started crossfit, and I want to use it as a benchmark so 5 years from now i can see how i (hopefully) improved. The other detail is I decided I wanted to do it "RX" or as prescribed as opposed to the easier scaled option (even though is was heavy). Crossifit Auckland!

Might have played with the color a little....

Heres a video made by Jacques:

Couch surfing!

Today, I decided to try Couch surfing and head up to Whangarei! My host Stu picked me up at the bus stop, and took Lauren (from France) and I up to see the Whangarei Heads. There were the best 360degree views yet!

 Above, is looking down at Ocean beach, and the "brisk" hike turned into a run!

Looking back, you can see where we were standing! look for the highest point in the picture, and thats what we climbed.

Last but not least, we had a "couchsurfing family dinner". Pictured here is: me, Geerd (Dutch), Lauren(French), Stu (Kiwi), and Neils (Dutch). Nobody left hungry.  

VIP tour of Auckland

Today, Felecia and Gene took me around Auckland! First we went to sky casino (in the sky tower) and I found the first real iced coffee since I got here! Then they took me to Achilles Point, with a view of Rangitoto in the distance, and a different view of Auckland! There was also a beautiful flower garden there!

Black sand and a jungle

Today I wanted to see the jungle and also the black sand beach! So I took a trip to the Aratki Visitor Center to find out how to go about this! (regionalparks.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz) 

I Got some great advice, and headed off to hike through the jungle to a waterfall.

The next stop was Piha. Most notable there are the black sand beach Black Sand Beach , and Lion Rock. Lion Rock Facts