The end of the journey

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On Monday morning I got up and headed out on to K Rd for a good morning breakfast at my new favorite place. I've found this cafe/coffee shop that is strange and interesting and funky and plays great music. The food is excellent and the barista and staff are awesome. I'm greeted and order the porridge with a pot of tea. This is the first and last time I'll eat porridge. I think that's all I have to say about that. I settled in though and enjoyed my pot of tea and read my book. I left around 9:30 with plans to catch the bus down to the ferry terminal. My plan for the day was to head out to Waiheke Island. The ferry was at 10 am. The weather was rainy again and cold and the wind was howling. I was planning to get out to the island and hire a bike and ride around and visit some of the wineries. Well, the traffic was bad so it took quite a while to get to the terminal by bus and then the line for the ferry was longer than I expected and so I stood there and watched the 10 am ferry depart. Shoot. By the time I got to the counter, I ended up speaking to Mere, the very nice employee. She and I went back and forth on the activities on the island and she finally convinced me to do the wine tasting bus tour. Yeah, like it took her a great deal of convincing :-) So I bought the ticket and was set to depart on the 11 am ferry. I walked over to the Seattle Espresso coffee shop - the original owners were from Seattle and this was a place I was in when I was here in 2005 - the new owners have never lived there - and ordered a flat white and did some more reading in my book. As I sat, I realized that I was not dressed warmly enough for the day in my linen pants and t-shirt. I had my sweatshirt (jumper in this area of the world) and rain coat, but I was going to be cold. Oh well.

The ferry ride was nice. Calmer than I'd thought it would be. The rain was really coming down so you couldn't see anything. But that's ok, this is a harbor I've seen on a beautiful bright sunny day. I've already been lucky. It took about 40 mins to get to Waiheke and when we arrived there were several sail boats sitting out in the harbor. Now, this would have called for a bit of sunshine so that it could have illuminated the beauty of the boats as they bobbed in the harbor. Oh well. The bus was waiting right outside the terminal building and I climbed on. There were 15 of us doing the tour today. I found out later in the day that a man from San Fran was like me...hoping to have done the island by bike, but settled for the bus. We both agreed that although we had a nice day, it would have been better explored at our own pace on a bike. The island is beautiful and green from all the rain of late. Its also a very hilly island. With much steeper roads and areas than I expected. Maybe it is better that I'm on a bus :-) We drive through town. Its quaint and small with some bustling shops and people moving about. We pass two beautiful beaches with wide stretches of sand and small waves crashing into it. Its momentarily sunny and I want to jump off the bus to walk along the beach. The first winery is Stoneyridge. Its a long gravel drive up to the building. The owner is a fan of making the whole place look like an old French winery. Complete with an iron gate, stone building and olive trees. Its quite pretty! We are greeted by an employee, a guy who turns out is from Australia and I can't remember his name, with a tray of white wine. Please don't let it be chardonnay, please don't let it be chardonnay. He passed out the glasses and leads us into a grassy area between the trees. For a moment, its stopped raining. While I wait, I take a sniff and then a sip. Yep, that's chardonnay and yep, I still don't like it. I think some things in life you just know you will never like. For me those things are chilis and chardonnay. Since it is a wine tasting and I'd like to get my money's worth, I go ahead and struggle my way through the glass. We listen as we learn a bit about the history of the winery and about the types of wine they produce. He goes on and on about the blend that they make that's super exclusive and works it up all and then tells us, but you don't get to taste that one today. And now I'm annoyed. This is not an effective sales tactic. It starts to rain again, so we make our way inside. The building is cool and gives the feeling of charm. We sit on a covered deck area and have a superb lunch of fresh salad, bread and quiche followed by a platter of cheese, I decide to indulge and have a piece of Brie. I love Brie! With lunch, we are also treated to one of their red wines. It wasn't bad. A Merlot/Cab blend. But I won't call it good either. Let's put it this way, anything tastes good to me after I drink a Chardonnay. I sat at a table with three Asian girls from Hong Kong and two older US men - one from Brooklyn who also lived a few years in Chicago and did not like it when I said that Chicago is a cleaner and friendlier version of New York and a transplant to San Fran. That guy was really quiet and very nice. And he loves wine. We talked a bit about the different varieties. Turns out later in the day, he also shares my love of micro brewed beer. After lunch we loaded into the bus and were off to our next stop.

Next up was the olive oil tasting. We went to Rangihoua Estate and I was excited to see this. Olive pressing is something I know nothing about and thought it could be really interesting. We were able to see some olive trees and then went into the warehouse were they had two machines working. Now, one would have thought the machines would have been larger or looked more modern, but they were small, maybe 20 ft long and looked like they were right out of the 50s. They were in the process of pressing olives while we were there so the machines were on it was really loud. We watched a video, without the sound, and after looking around for a few minutes I lost interest. I had too many questions and couldn't really ask them and so my mind wandered. Shocking, I know. Back in the tasting room, I poked around and ended up selecting a little day souveigner for myself. I picked up a small pottery stone with the Konu design on it. Its pretty and something nice I can put in my apt...when I get one again. LOL Then we got to taste the 3 extra virgin olives they produce. All had a slightly different taste and I have to say, I did not like any of them. They were all a bit too peppery for me. I did however like the free tester of hand creme...that felt nice! This stop for the day was far too long. I was looking for something to do and then finally decided to just get back on the bus and wait.

The next stop was really cool! We went to Wild on Waiheke which is a multi purpose place. They have corporate activites, families activities set up, a winery and a micro brewery. Sweet! We are greeted again by a lady with a tray of white wines. Oh lord! This time, its Sauvigon Blanc. Thank goodness! This glass I enjoy with great pleasure and once we're inside the tasting room, I decide to pay an addtional $3 to taste their Rose and a second red. I could have skipped the second red, but to my surprise, the Rose was really good. Then we were given two free tastes of the micro brewed beer. The first one was a pale ale and it was pretty good. all there beer is organic which made me really happy. The other free taste was a ginger beer. I was saving this to last. Just as I was ready to order tastes of the other 3 beers, Allen, our driver announces we have 2 min till we leave. Hold up...we spend more than an hour at the olive place and now you bring us to a place that has beer and wine and we 30 mins?!?!? There is a fundamental flaw to this tour. I quickly order the wheat beer...I can't leave with out trying it. I take a sip, savor it, then another. Then I slam the rest of the glass. I mean, I couldn't just leave it there...to waste. I was sorely disappointed that I could not try the malt and dark ales. Talk about a missed opportunity. As I walk back to the bus and think about the day thus far, I realize that this is not a tasting tour that encourages a buzz...this is very un-kiwi-ques. I was the last one on the bus and Mr San Fran was like, how was the Wheat? He ended up leaving 3 half finished beer tasters on the bar and was not happy about it.

Our next stop was Mud Brick winery. This place was BEAUTIFUL! They have an ideal spot on a hill that is close to the harbor and on a clear day, allows for views of the small island next to it that is a volcano and downtown Auckland. Its beauifully laid out with fresh herb gardens for the onsite restaurant, an outdoor fireplace patio area, fresh flower gardens...let me tell you...this is a place to host an elegant event. I can never turn off my event brain...so sad :-) With the rain really coming down, we're taken into the building for a little sit around to taste the wine and hear more about the winery. The white we try is a sauvigon blanc and I have to admit, the first one I've ever had and not liked. I was surpised. Maybe my taste was tainted from the beer... Either way, the red we had was good. It was a blend and I liked it a lot. After we're done tasting, I look outside and the sun it out in a big way. I make my way outside instead of poking around their shop and take a look...and what a view! You can see all of downtown Auckland and its magnificent. You can see the rolling hills as they spred out from the city. You can see all the islands as they spot the harbor. You can see more rain clouds blowing in. I stop and for a moment soak it in. I'm so lucky. After a few moments I'm sucked back into the present and we're loading up the bus. That moment, that view, that bit of sunshine...that made today worthwhile. We have a short drive back to the ferry terminal and will be catching the 4 pm ferry back to Auckland. I settled into a seat at the back, the harbor looked a bit more rough this time around. The ride was pretty quick, 45 mins, but the rollers got to me a bit. I was happy to make it back to the mainland. From here, I made my way to a gift shop...I had something small to pick up and then hopped on the bus back up to K Road. Once at the hostel, I immediately put on some warmer clothes. Then I read a bit and headed out for dinner.

I had heard this restaurant called Verona down the street was really good so in I went. Boy, was I happy! I sat in the back at a quiet booth, made friends with the bartender, talked Steig Larron with the chef who even sat down and talked the books with me for about 15 mins and had excellent pumpkin risotto. Oh what a happy girl I am when I eat a good meal! I said good bye to the boys on my way out and thanked them again for a great meal! Then it was back to the hostel where I caught most of the movie Pineapple Express. Ok, I'm not a fan of these movies usually, but this one was pretty funny. And maybe it was more funny because I was watching it with like 15 other people who are either quoting it or making fun of it or talking about how outrageous it is. Either way, it was just fun!

I woke up early on Tuesday morning. I was surprised when I woke up. I slept so hard that I almost forgot where I was. I slowly started moving and showered and dressed. My last day. This is it. The trip is at its end. The journey is ready to complete itself and I'm ready to go home. I make my way down to my fav cafe and say hello to the staff. Its a warm smiley welcome and I return the same. I order the buckwheat apple cinnamon, because at this point I'm making my way through the menu, and try one of their green teas. I settle into a seat, read, eat, sip my tea and enjoy my morning. Why can't every morning be like this. I leave and walk a bit around the city and decide to have a really lazy day. Its a great day and I enjoy it thoroughly. I soak in all that I can. I listen to the people in the streets, to the sound of traffic to the students going through a graduation ceremony...to the business going on in Auckland. It was a great day...it was a great way to leave this beautiful country. Tonight I'm planning to go to a bar and have one more Speight...that will be my final send off to NZ. This is the last blog and its always hard. I am always in a bit of a bitter/sweet mood and never quite know how the whole experience will reflect in my future. But from this trip, I've learned so much. I've seen such great warmth and kindness in people. I've seen such peace and happiness. I've seen such simple passion and bliss that I've wanted to hold onto to moments forever. I know now that those moments have emblazed themselves in me. They are in my head, heart and soul forever. I can close my eyes and hear the children laughing in Fiji, see the sun rise over The Rock, and gasp at the beauty of the Emerald Lakes. These are things that never go away. No blogs or photos needed...just close your eyes and smile...the memories are right there and you know that you'll never be the same.

Kia Ora!!!!

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Photos

Waiheke port area
Where the ferry pulls in...not really a port, more like just a big pier :-) This one one of the sunny moments on the island! How beautiful!

Olives in the presser
From the olive oil place. The machine was super loud, yet really small!

The olives on the tree!
Again, a break in the rain to catch a pretty cool photo.

Look! Merlot grapes!
This was at the Wild on Waiheke Winery.

Yum, micro brewed beer!
Wild on Waiheke...the winery and brewery. Now, these people know how to have a good time!

View from Mud Brick
The weather cleared and we could just barely see the Auckland skyline. You can't see it here, but its there. What a beautiful site!

Mud Brick winery
This place had the best atmosphere.