Rangitoto

Our second weekend in New Zealand involved some hiking. We took a boat ride out to Rangitoto, a volcanic island just off the coast of Auckland. It was formed approximately 600 years ago, and fortunately isn't expected to erupt again any time soon.

Here's what Rangitoto looks like from afar.

The island offers a few different hikes, and you can also choose to walk over a causeway that connects Rangitoto to another island, Mototapu, which we haven't attempted yet. We chose a route that covered about half of the island's perimeter and then ascended to the peak, which offers stunning views of Auckland as well as a look into the crater.

The island boasts a myriad of typical New Zealand flora. Obviously, Justin was in heaven.

This cute little lighthouse is too small to be formally classed as a lighthouse by Maritime New Zealand. It's essentially the Pluto of lighthouses.

Mackenzie Bay, the only sandy beach we could find during our wanderings on the island.

A view of the adjoining (and non-volcanic) Mototapu Island. In the distance, Waiheke island, home of some of Auckland's most affluent as well as plenty of wineries.

Emerging from one of several lava caves that remain on the island.

The ferries between Auckland and Rangitoto don't depart frequently, and we might have slightly misjudged the time that the descent back to the ferry terminal would take (by that we mean Emma misread the sign at the top that said '40 minutes to the bottom' as '10 minutes to the bottom'). This resulted in an all-out sprint down the last 1km of the hill. When we arrived at the dock huffing and puffing, the ferry had pulled up its bridge and was about to depart, but the staff took pity on us and delayed the departure so that we could get on. That's right, we were those people.