Blogs from Waiheke Island, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Waiheke Island is a short ferry ride from downtown Auckland through the Hauraki Gulf … the ferries we saw docking, whilst waiting to embark, were full of both commuters and tourists making the most of the very early summer heat (this is really the tail-end of spring here). The water was a beautiful turquoise colour and we were surprised with how little pollution or scum there was, even at the dockside. As the catamaran sped away from shore the view of the towers and seafront provided a marvellous backdrop for the rest of the trip. In front of us several low-lying but undulating islands came into view … probably due to the volcanic nature of the region, they all had tight, lumpy hills on them. Thirty minutes later and we disembarked at Waiheke in the midday ... read more

As my birthday was on the Monday, I celebrated it (properly) on the Friday. A big group of us met in a pub in the city after work. A typical Friday afternoon at work consists of a few drinks from 4pm so by the time I got in to town at 6pm I was well on my way!! I got a few nice little presents and a card from everyone. We ordered some food, (despite me trying to push the ‘eating is cheating’ motto!), but when it came I went to the toilet and kept bumping into people on the way back (including a couple of guys with a 2 litre tall ‘beer tower’ offering me to help myself) and by the time I made it back to the table, the food was gone and my ... read more

Vanmorgen de ferry genomen naar Waiheke Island. Mooi eiland met velen mooie 'bays' en een aantal wineries. Genoten van een goed glas sauvignon blanc van Goldwater estate, heerlijk in de zon met uitzicht op een wit strand...tja..wat moet ik nog meer zeggen... ... read more

I woke up at 9:20am and decided to hop in the shower since we had our own private bedroom, living room and bathroom in the exposed basement. The bathroom even had a towel warmer, nice. Pete then woke up when I returned to the room around 9:40am. We dressed and packed our bags so we would be ready. We didn’t hear anyone moving upstairs so I decided to work on the blog and Pete went up to the kitchen to start some coffee. Then around 10:30 everyone else started to wake up. Pete and Scott made an awesome breakfast with an egg scramble including onions, peppers, sausage and steak from last night. Then we had toast, blueberries and strawberries. Did I say how awesome the views are from this house with LOTS of windows to capture ... read more

Well our first small jaunt which got us out of Parnell and the City took us to Waiheke Island, a comfortable 35 minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland. My husband works with a professor who lives on the Island and he invited us for the day. We went late afternoon and did not know really what the plan for the afternoon was, unfortunately I did not take my camera as we were given a small but lovely tour of the island. We first went to the small community art gallery, small but pleasurable as it was exhibits from local artists and probably something we would not have done had we gone there just ourselves. The main aim for those visiting Waiheke appear to be * Beach * Wine * Restaurants Which of course is fair enough ... read more