Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with our plans of going to popular Waiheke Island: the big island of 26 wineries and great beaches that's just a 35min ferry ride from downtown Auckland. It used to be the home of hippies to tried to get away from the corporate city, but now they've been invaded by the uber-corporate types who've built massive million-dollar homes on the hills with magnificent views of Waitamata harbour.
We let mom browse the craft shops in the town of Oneroa where surprisingly the only thing she bought was a shirt in the surf shop. [?!?!] Then it was off to the vineyards. Mudbrick was recommended: not sure about the wines but it's garden terraces and the views from them are wonderful. Now I know where I get my cluelessness about wine tasting: mom just drinks it and makes a sour face. As such, Julie and I paid the $5 for a tasting while mom wandered and took in the grounds.
We took a ferry to the island, obviously, and rented a car once there. With big plans of seeing the whole island we barely made it halfway to the big Onetangi beach. And we didn't taste much wine either. Most places want you to pay for the tasting so that takes a lot of the fun out of it.
Regardless of the uppity wine types, the island is very scenic in typical NZ fashion and many of the houses over here showcase some interesting architecture. Mom kept asking me to take pictures of houses to send to Jayson - so Jay, expect a big email.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
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