Waiheke Island and New Friends

Day 3 of our journey and to be honest K and I arose this morning not knowing exactly what to do.  We had actually crossed off the "must do" things for our Auckland visit.  So, we decided to check out the Kelly Tarlton Underwater World and Antarctic exhibit.  This is a marine park and exhibit created by one of New Zealand's celebrated explorer/treasure hunters Kelly Tarlton (he died at age 47 in 1985).  If time permitted, we thought we would visit one of the many little islands in Hauraki Gulf (the body of water to Auckland's east).

After we ate some breakfast we caught a cab.  Our cab driver, John, was a delightful fellow.  Very chatty.  Asking us what we had planned for our day, we explained our plan.  K then asked him what he would recommend and John was pretty honest.  He called the Tarlton exhibit a tourist trap.  "Have you seen a shark at an aquarium?' he asked.  We said yes.  "Then you have seen all there really is to the Tarlton thing.  I would spend my day on Waiheke island - it's lovely."  Didn't take much for K to have that cabby turning around and back to the ferry port for our trip over to the island in Hauraki Gulf.

It turned out to be a great decision.  The trip over gave us a great view of the harbor, many islands in the gulf and city from the water.  Some pictures from the boat - and the boat itself pictured below.

And Waiheke was a delightful island that was a cross between Napa Valley, CA and one of the Hawaiian islands.  K and I were both ready to move there permanently.  It used to be a hippy island with artist colonies, nude beaches, and pot growers (and still contains some of that feel/element).  Today, it contains the "Chardonnay crowd" as the Kiwis call it.  33 vineyards now populate the island and 20 of them have wineries and wine tastings.  Yes, you got it - K was in her heaven.  There was a picture at every turn, but below are a few I took.

We stopped and sampled two wineries - Mudbrick and Cable Bay.  Wines were good and the company even better.  Below, K is in her element at the Mudbrick winery!

We met up with some Aussies and an American couple.  Ralph and Cherie - from NY - were spending their last day in NZ before heading home.  They had just completed a trip to Australia and NZ.  Sound familiar?  Yep - they were finishing what we were starting.  We shared some great Waiheke wines and dinner on the island with this super couple and tried to find out what we must absolutely see.  Ralph and Cherie were wonderful.  This is what I so like about travel - seeing the world yes - but meeting great people and sharing a bit of your life with them even if it is for a brief moment in time.  Below, we are pictured with them.  Look at that view from our table!  I forget what we paid for dinner, but the view and the company made it under priced.

So not a hugely eventful day, but one that will measure up well for the scenery and the experience.