Caro Downunder - Part 2, Walking, Wining, Dining Waiheke
The first time I ever told Caroline that I grew up in New Zealand, she surprised me by informing be that she has always wanted to go to Waiheke...
This was long before Waiheke Island was nominated as one of the most beautiful islands in the world, so I was a little taken aback at the time that she even knew about it, but promised her that if she ever (actually) made it to New Zealand, I would take her there.
Thankfully that day came much sooner than I think either of us could have anticipated, and as we woke to glorious sunshine on day two of Caroline's time Downunder...
...we embarked the ferry, and 35 minutes later arrived at:
From Matiatia Bay we headed straight on one of my favourite walks on Waiheke. It's essentially the same coastal walk as the Sculpture on the Gulf event - cruising along and around the peninsula you can see in the left of the above image.
Come along now - keep up! :)
Now as I mentioned in the last post, I was fortunate to receive ALL of the hundreds of photos Caroline took on her trip, so these are essentially her impressions.
Although I found looking through the photos in itself interesting, to see these things that I am lucky enough to have on my doorstep, through a fresh perspective...
I don't think I will ever get over the colours of New Zealand...
As you begin to reach the tip of the peninsula, the Auckland city skyline appears before you in the distance...
Can you spot it?! I could...
As could Caroline, and she was literally jumping for joy... :)
Yep, she was preeeety happy to finally be on Waiheke - but here she was laughing at my joke ;)
But enough of pretty landscapes - you best just check out the walk for yourself - we had other places to be...
So while unlike Europe, Waiheke doesn't have any cozy huts to stop off at for a hearty lunch to make the walking worthwhile...but Waiheke does have wineries - and plenty of them!
As it turns out, vino on an empty stomach in the lunchtime heat can lead to tipsy quite quickly, so off we trod through the vines, Caroline leading the way this time...
...back to Oneroa village where the shuttle was waiting to take us to lunch at...
Where as if by magic these appeared...
Just kidding, we ordered them of course - which Caroline was quickly regretting...
But we'd made our wine tasting beds, and would have to sleep in them.
So we played it cool - cheers!
And ordered a tower of tasty morsels to soak it all up with.
The highlight of course being, that we ticked another "Kiwi" culinary treat off the list, in form of a deconstructed pavlova:
While Batch Winery is a little bit out of the way than some of the more famous wineries on Waiheke, it offers a convenient shuttle service to its patrons.
This used to be a complimentary service, unfortunately this has since changed to a $12 per person charge of which we were informed of upon booking. However, I still feel it's a bit too much when you consider that there are x other wineries you could dine at, and essentially spend more money at...Perhaps a $5 fare would be more reasonable.
But no matter, we had lunch to digest in the meantime, and as we got the timing of the return shuttle wrong, we were faced with the predicament of having an hour to kill.
Well, as much as Caroline and myself are "go-go-go" kind of gals, we love to eat, and we love to sleep!
So we grabbed a bunch of picnic blankets, and set up camp for a nap...
It was bloody windy, so trying to multitask: keeping the blanket in place - while not flashing the other guests - proved quite the mission.
Luckily Caroline soon got sleepy enough to help me weight our underlay down, an we were in good company :)
An hour later, our driver kindly woke us from our snooze, and we were refreshed to return to Oneroa village for our final stop - one of my favourites since way back: The Oyster Inn.
For some more hydration! ;)
Of course being responsible drinkers, and being at the Oyster Inn, naturally Caro had to order some beefy, local Waiheke oysters to accompany the Rose...
While I topped up on water.
I think it is safe to say that Caro's wildest Waiheke expectations had been fulfilled :)
And as the sun was beginning to set, we returned to the big smoke, to rest up for the next adventure!
Where to? Pop by again soon to find out! ;)
Until then...
This was long before Waiheke Island was nominated as one of the most beautiful islands in the world, so I was a little taken aback at the time that she even knew about it, but promised her that if she ever (actually) made it to New Zealand, I would take her there.
Thankfully that day came much sooner than I think either of us could have anticipated, and as we woke to glorious sunshine on day two of Caroline's time Downunder...
...we embarked the ferry, and 35 minutes later arrived at:
From Matiatia Bay we headed straight on one of my favourite walks on Waiheke. It's essentially the same coastal walk as the Sculpture on the Gulf event - cruising along and around the peninsula you can see in the left of the above image.
Come along now - keep up! :)
Now as I mentioned in the last post, I was fortunate to receive ALL of the hundreds of photos Caroline took on her trip, so these are essentially her impressions.
Although I found looking through the photos in itself interesting, to see these things that I am lucky enough to have on my doorstep, through a fresh perspective...
I don't think I will ever get over the colours of New Zealand...
As you begin to reach the tip of the peninsula, the Auckland city skyline appears before you in the distance...
Can you spot it?! I could...
As could Caroline, and she was literally jumping for joy... :)
Yep, she was preeeety happy to finally be on Waiheke - but here she was laughing at my joke ;)
But enough of pretty landscapes - you best just check out the walk for yourself - we had other places to be...
So while unlike Europe, Waiheke doesn't have any cozy huts to stop off at for a hearty lunch to make the walking worthwhile...but Waiheke does have wineries - and plenty of them!
...back to Oneroa village where the shuttle was waiting to take us to lunch at...
Where as if by magic these appeared...
Just kidding, we ordered them of course - which Caroline was quickly regretting...
But we'd made our wine tasting beds, and would have to sleep in them.
So we played it cool - cheers!
And ordered a tower of tasty morsels to soak it all up with.
The highlight of course being, that we ticked another "Kiwi" culinary treat off the list, in form of a deconstructed pavlova:
While Batch Winery is a little bit out of the way than some of the more famous wineries on Waiheke, it offers a convenient shuttle service to its patrons.
This used to be a complimentary service, unfortunately this has since changed to a $12 per person charge of which we were informed of upon booking. However, I still feel it's a bit too much when you consider that there are x other wineries you could dine at, and essentially spend more money at...Perhaps a $5 fare would be more reasonable.
But no matter, we had lunch to digest in the meantime, and as we got the timing of the return shuttle wrong, we were faced with the predicament of having an hour to kill.
Well, as much as Caroline and myself are "go-go-go" kind of gals, we love to eat, and we love to sleep!
So we grabbed a bunch of picnic blankets, and set up camp for a nap...
It was bloody windy, so trying to multitask: keeping the blanket in place - while not flashing the other guests - proved quite the mission.
Luckily Caroline soon got sleepy enough to help me weight our underlay down, an we were in good company :)
An hour later, our driver kindly woke us from our snooze, and we were refreshed to return to Oneroa village for our final stop - one of my favourites since way back: The Oyster Inn.
For some more hydration! ;)
Of course being responsible drinkers, and being at the Oyster Inn, naturally Caro had to order some beefy, local Waiheke oysters to accompany the Rose...
While I topped up on water.
I think it is safe to say that Caro's wildest Waiheke expectations had been fulfilled :)
And as the sun was beginning to set, we returned to the big smoke, to rest up for the next adventure!
Where to? Pop by again soon to find out! ;)
Until then...
Yours truly,
Fräulein SoulFood x
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