Amazing Volcano Explorer Weekend Part 1

Preparation 

A while ago on a weekend in Auckland the kids and I and a friend were wasting a bit of time and we ended up up both One Tree Hill and Mt Eden. It was late at night so we didn't get much of a chance to explore. I suggested to Riley that it would be cool if we could have a whole weekend exploring the Auckland Volcanoes. He LOVED the idea so the Volcano Explorer Weekend idea was born. I decided to organise it all as a Birthday weekend for Riley.
So I spend AGES planning the weekend. I found out about where we could go, made a Volcano Explorer Journal, made an explorer pack and got my Mum to sew an explorer uniform.
The Friday before the weekend we headed down to Auckland in the afternoon and once there presented Riley with his Volcano Explorer Pack.

In the pack was:
- Camera                                               
- Pencil Case with Pencils & Pens  
- First Aid Kit                                         
- Magnifying Glasses
- Rope                                                  
- Compass
- Torch                                                 
- Water Canteen
- Head Lamp                                          
- Measuring Tape
- Sketch Journal                                     
- Binoculars
- Tongs (for hot rock collecting)

And in the pack was the Journal I made. 
I bought a regular journal which had a leather look cover. I then covered it with embellishments and spray painted the whole thing. After the paint was dry (I did a couple of coats) I gave the letters a light sand so they looked a bit worn and then I sprayed it with varnish.

On the inside I put maps and photos of the volcanoes we were visiting with decorated pages for photos & journalling. These are just a few pages from the journal.

The Explorer Uniform was sewn by my Mum. We found some cool patches at Arthur's Emporium to sew on the pockets of his shirt. I had some iron on tape which I stamped his name on.
The pith helmet is Jason's from when he was a US Marine

So my little Volcano Explorer was all ready and super excited to start his awesome adventure in the morning!!

Tune in tomorrow for Part 2 of our adventure!