Tumbler on the Rumbler

Ahoy Me-Harties,

This here is your Captian Julia, responsible for all things fun and foreign.
We'll be starting this brief voyage through the events of yesterday by outlining the main activities of the day.
1. Wake-up
2. Check out the firemen
3. Get on a ferry
4. Climb a volcano
5. Fall down a volcano
6. Attack a volcano
7. Get on a ferry
8. Go to a movie
For the first part of our voyage not much else needs to said. Basically I woke up, tossed and turned, and eventually gave in to the sun streaming in my window and went for breakfast.
Part 2 is a touch more eventful. Whilst making aforementioned breakfast, I discovered that the toaster was not working and journeyed forth towards another toaster. While on my tedious journey of one flight of stairs, the firealarm went off. It turns out that someone else had discovered the upstairs toaster wasn't functioning and had used the toaster oven downstairs (like I intended) to make their toast. However, they weren't quite on top of their game and all that was left of their toast was a notable pile of ashes and a ton of smoke. It took the fireteam about half an hour to arrive (all of which time the alarm was screaming away. It made for a tranquil morning.). When they did arrive, they couldn't find the entrance to the building. Luckly I had gone downstairs to see if any of them were cute (they were all in their late 30's or so. nuff said. lol) so I was there to point them in the right direction.
Part three is as unevenful as part one. I went with Stephano down to the marina and we snagged some tickets to Rangitoto, a 600 year volcano just 25 minutes ferry ride from Auckland. We got on said ferry and rode to Rangitoto uneventfully.
Naturally, part four takes part once on the volcanic island. There were a bunch of trails throughout the island but we decided to head "straight to zee top ya, straight to zee top". The scenery was absolutely gorgeous which made the steep and slippery hike to the top much more enjoyable. The paths were all under construction and basically consisted of extremely loose volcanic styled gravel. Additionally, I being the genius that I am forgot to wear proper shoes and was treking in flip-flops. We made it to the top uneventfully though a touch tired. The view from the top of the volcano was absolutely incredible. Rangitoto hasn't erupted since its first eruption 600 years ago and is covered in dense forest. The island is surrounded by some of the bluest and greenest water I have ever seen and that water is dotted with islands and eventually framed by NZ and the city of Auckland.
Part four begins about a quarter of the way down Rangitoto when I stepped, slid, fell, skidded, and came to rest solidly on my right leg. It basically ends there too. Stephano did turn around and yell "Stay there! I want a picture!" But that's really about it. I picked myself up, poured some water on my bleeding leg and continued on my merry way. We made it another 2 quarters of the way down when we realized that the trail we were looking for was actually about 10 from where I fell but due to general concern about me taking another tumble neither of us had noticed. We promptly turned around, treked back up, found our turn for the Lava Caves and were on our way again.
The lave caves were really cool and would have been a lot better had we been more prepared. You were able to climb through narrow passageway and larger tunnels that had formed when the lava settled after the eruption. These tunnels were quite long and really you need a flashlight in order to really explore. You also need proper footwear. Therefore we explored for a while and then turned around to head back to the ferry dock.
I suppose it was at this time that I decided to assault the volcano using my little toe on my right foot. Hence part 6 begins and ends in one swift strike. The volcano won. Well played Rangitoto, well played. Now I'm missing the tip of my toe. Well I guess it's still there, but barely. A lot of blood, however, is definitely no longer in that toe and has been claimed by the volcano. What it's gonna do with it, I have no idea -- but to the victor go the spoils. Thankfully we happened up a couple British ladies pretty quickly and they hooked me up with a bandaid and made my descent to the ferry much less slippery (apparently my flip flop thought that it had earned some of the spoils as well and was collecting as much blood as it could). We arrived at the bottom of the volcano about 45 minutes later without futher incident. Huzza!
Part seven. Got on the ferry and went back to Auckland.
After returning to the hostel, sitting around for a while, eventually cleaning my wounds, and eating a brief supper, Richard, Remco and I went to see RED for cheap night Tuesday (apparently they have that here too). It was a great movie. Highly recommend it. It was random, the use of ammunition and force was gloriously excessive and cast was exceptional.

That's about the end of our voyage through yesterday. Maybe yesterday's yesterday depending on the time differences and when you read this.

As for upcoming adventures today I plan on nursing the wicked sunburn and other ouchies I got climbing Rangitoto and preparing to go work tomorrow. I found a week long (longer if I want) odd jobs/maintainance/gardening job just north of Auckland in a little town right on the coast. I'll be working for room and board and hopefully hitting the beach everyday (it's a 5 minute walk from the house I'll be at). I'm working the details out today and will have more info soon I hope.

Much love from the Tumbler on the Rumbler.
Julia