fourteen and a half

i love aquariums. this one was not that impressive but it’s always cool to see tropical fish and even sharks. we saw stingrays being fed - they’re scary but actually pretty cool animals. sea horses are still my favourite.

that last photoset was taken from (as you can tell) the top of a cliff. i can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called, but it’s just outside auckland, and we were taken there by our awesome wine tour guide, phil! apparently it’s a really popular place for surfers… :)

xx

the previous photoset:

rangitoto island is an island off the coast of auckland. it’s about a 20 minute ferry ride (which is freezing!), and is a completely environmentally-protected volcanic island. people go there to hike up to the top, where there are caves (apparently - we didn’t make it up there), and to hike one or two of the many other trails around the island. trails take as little as five minutes and as long as two hours to complete.

the island was so beautiful! the green plants looked amazing against the background of jet black soil (from the volcano), and there were awesome views of both auckland and the surrounding smaller islands.

it was definitely well worth a visit :)

all those flower photos were taken in the greenhouses at auckland’s domain park. the first greenhouse housed some familiar plants that we may have seen in a garden in canada, but the second greenhouse had some really crazy flowers! wish ours were that awesome :)