Blogs from Waiheke Island, Auckland, North Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 8

Another awesome day. Got started early....breakfast in the hotel (my snazzy traveler husband is a big shot at hte hyatt so we got the free breakfast in the regency club lounge) then headed down town. Walked around a bit - lined up our car for tomorrow, took some pictures on the pier of hte harbour bridge, et al - then caught the 10AM ferry to Waiheke Island. Waiheke Island is about a 35 minute ferry ride from Auckland - its a very scenic ride, leaving the city adn weaving through georgous little islands in the harbour. But hte most amazing view of all was arriving at Waiheke. What an amazing place. It still has this old hippy settler feel to it - and as Jenny, our tour guide, described it to us - there are no ... read more

Het echte Nieuw Zeeland! ............... Heb nu al drie keer een verhaal getypt maar word steed niet verzonden!! VeT irritant!!!!!! Nou heb ik er bijna geen zin meer in. En zit hier al mn geld en tijd weer lekke te verdoen. Ik zit nu op Waiheke Island en dat is echt super!!! Ik heb al zo veel gezien en meegemaakt das echt zo bijzonder. Het is echt heel raar om nu echt aan de andere kant van de aardbol te zitten! Ik heb een erg leuke tijd gehad in het hostel in Auckland, Verandahs! Iedereen was erg gezellig en leuk! Ben daarna samen met Maaike, Tom en elisabethe vertrokken naar het eilend. Zon 35 min varen vanaf de stad! Ik wilde echt wel weg uit Auckland, the big smoke! Ookal zijn er mooie parken, met ongelooflijk ... read more

The 10am ferry from Auckland took Jeanne, Andy and I over to Waiheke Island today in about 45 minutes. At the quayside on Waiheke, Jeane spotted a work collegue who was just heading for her 'Bach'.....a local word for a holiday home......in a minibus and we were duly invited to Lorna's for a coffee and viewing of said bach, on a terrace with a magnificent view over the island. An hour on and Lorna drove us in her old vw golf...her 'island runaround'....to Jeanne and Andy's recently purchased island home at Rocky Bay. ....Wow!.....what a view, over the fern trees and Manouka trees to the bay just below. A lunch of alfalfa, sprouting seeds, avocado, courgette, pea shoots, hard boiled egg and cheese.....washed down with a good bottle of wine, sitting outside on their terrace, was ... read more

Yes, this should be my last blog from the land of the kiwis unless something unbelievably interesting happens in the next 24 hours. My week in Auckland has been spent closing bank accounts, chnaging all my cashmondo into American dollars, 'studying'/'staring balnkly' at my Spannish phrase book, and more interestingly camping on Waiheke Island for a night. Waiheke is only 35mins ferry ride away from downtoen Auckland, and you can still just about see the skyline of the capital when you get there, but the difference between the two places is huge Auckland is a constant struggle with too many people and everybody rushing everywhere, whereas Waiheke gave me the impression of a cross betwee, the Channel Islands (even tho i've never been) and Goa (due to its microclimate). Its population is around 8000 and its ... read more

We decided at the last minute to go to Waiheke. We headed for Auckland after dropping Erin off at the Hamilton airport heading back to Wellington. On the highway we decided to check out Waiheke Island off the east coast of Auckland - which turned out to be just like Saltspring Island off the Canadian West Coast. Lots of artists and granola types and organic this and that - just my cuppa tea again! We arrived off the ferry in the dark, and fortunately we had a map from the ferry office. The island does not have street lighting, so it was only by the light of our headlights that we made our way on the twisting roads that criss cross the island. We stayed at a Backpacker's owned by a guy from our era, who ... read more