May 19th, 2011
Two words: Tiritiri Matangi
This has seriously been one of the best days for me so far. Even the ferry ride was beautiful—it was nice seeing Auckland’s cityscape from further away than Devonport. We arrived at Tiritiri after about an hour on the ferry.
Even from the moment we got off the boat and met Mary our tour guide, I was just so excited by the feeling I got from the atmosphere. It was so interesting getting to experience the penguin nesting boxes and even how they track to see if rats have come on to the island. The hike up to the lighthouse was quite wonderful. Mary was so knowledgeable about the birds and also the history of Tiritiri—how they started the replanting and are maintaining it. It was also really great to see the interest, passion, and dedication Mary has for Tiritiri because she’s just a volunteer and doesn’t get paid. Definitely don’t run into that too incredibly often in the States.
My two highlights of being at Tiritiri Matangi was walking up over the big, beautiful hill and to be able to feel everyone’s energy as they experienced the beauty surrounding them.
The second part was walking down to the beach and getting to do a bit of tidepooling. It was awesome to see some of these little creatures, because the tide pools are so different than the ones I got to see in Alaska.
It was also great to unwind and eat pizza from Hell Pizza (the boxes folded up into little coffins, it rocked) with everyone and especially to make better friends with Brecht from Belgium who we met. Can’t believe it’s our last night in Auckland for a while.
