Taylor Swift

We had a quick weekend away last week in Auckland. Taylor Swift's Red tour had a stop in Auckland and it was something that we did not want to miss. My husband, the closet Taylor Swift fan was the one to let us all know a few months back that Taylor was heading our way. He knew this because he is on her fan club and gets e-mails from her weekly, don't tell anyone but he might be one of her biggest fans!
  One of my favorite things about living somewhere new is all of the "firsts" that we get to have. So going to a live concert of a big pop artist in the Southern Hempisphere was something we wanted to do as a family. It was a rockin "first", and it also brought back some great memories of our Taylor Swift concert we went to in Kansas City in 2010. I think Owen even enjoyed himself, how could he not? He was surrounded by 12,000 young beautiful girls. He did however, ask the next morning if he and Dad could could just have some "guy" time, because he was getting tired of screaming girls.

Vector Arena 

My handsome date.

 We had been to Auckland 3 times these past few years, but only to catch international flights. We were looking forward to spending a few days in the city and getting to act like tourists and enjoy the attractions and not be in a rush to catch a flight.  Auckland is a great city, it offers everything from Island hopping, and volcano hiking, to trendy neighborhoods with high end shopping. There is something for every interest in this city.

The girls and some of their friends before the concert.

We came across this Superyacht in the harbor Sunday morning. It is owned by some Russian billionaire, and cost US $350 million. The bath knobs alone cost $40,000 each! $$$$$$$$$$$

The biggest Christmas decorations we saw in Auckland. 

Who needs playgrounds, when there are trees like this to climb??

The War Memorial Museum

Taking the ferry over to the volcanic Rangitoto Island. It was only a 20 minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland. It was about a 2 hour hike to the top of the volcano, and it was an amazing 360 degree view! We then hiked down through the middle of the island to get to the volcano caves. Some were pitch black, which the kids loved until we all started hitting our heads on  overhanging rocks. Next time we will read the information pamphlet on our hike and bring a torch, like they suggested.

Energy for their hike up. These lollipops could of been in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They would not shrink. They lasted for over 3 hours. Owen felt he was ripped off with his candy bar, which lasted only 4 minutes.  

It is times like this, I LOVE the fact there are NO snakes in NZ. They are not even allowed in zoos. Another bonus of living here.....snake free....sweet as.

Never too old to hold hands.

This island was formed by a series of eruptions that happened 500-600 years ago. Some of the hike was on these black lava stones.