Perfect autumn weather

Just a beautiful mid - twenties day and no wind. We decided on Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant for lunch and by chance it was the best yet , so it has been a steady progression upwards. I've taken a star off Cable Bay for having flies in their restaurant (don't believe the waiter's excuse that came in because of grape picking).

Now Mudbrick is *****. New York Times describes the complex as "achingly beautiful" - don't know about that but it is certainly cleverly designed and in a gorgeous location. You enter through a French potager garden - little hedges around tiny gardens of salad vegetables surrounded by lavender, rosemary and standardised olives - then through into a large open terrace where the restaurant is with that stunning view across the water to Auckland, today very clear.

Spirulina

It's a drink I ordered which the waiter described as kiwifruit and banana. I got a shock to see its ghastly colour and looked it up on the Internet to find it's a blue-green algae and terribly healthy. So that is the mysterious looking glass on previous blog.

And now for something completely different...

Acting on advice from Ann, we took the ferry from Waiheke to Devonport. It's a pretty town with a lot of history just a short ferry ride from Auckland and a longer ride from Waiheke. More importantly it has two second-hand bookshops for David to browse in while I check out the Wild and Woolly wool shop, a temptingly laid-out shop where I bought some Otago merino for yet another pair of socks. The owner tells me she only ever makes one sock and her mother in England knits the other: I tell her this is an extreme case of SSS second sock syndrome.

David is happy to walk around looking at historical buildings while I potter around the shops and buy us a chicken for tea from NZ Paddock to Plate, which also has cute sayings on its walls. All the shop keepers comment on the lovely weather, saying that the summer has been dreadful and this is the nicest week so far. How lucky can we be?!

Excursion to east end

Bright and sunny again and we're off to the other, less populated end of the island but first a good DECAF coffee at Food Embassy and another read of the cute sayings on its wall. (Heather: there's a message for you on that wall...)

It's only ten kms away but the eastern end of the island might be another world. There are still hills but now they are bigger, more rolling and interspersed with vineyards, netted against the birds and all around on three sides the sea, a beautiful aqua green in the sunlight. We keep having to stop to take photos which is no problem as there are very few cars on the dusty gravel roads.

At the end of the road is Man O' War Vineyard with tastings and lunch platters which you eat sitting on the verandah in wicker chairs looking out over Man O' War Bay - so gentle and still it looks like a lake. Having consumed every crumb of cheese, pate and Turkish bread we sit with our books in the sun for a while before deciding to move on before falling asleep.

The scenery gets even more spectacular and eventually the road ends at a jetty where people are fishing for king fish without success: nearby is a jetty for sooty terns and seagulls. That was Orepiu, the end of Waiheke Island and not a coffee in sight. There was a road-side stall selling figs where we ate a bag before getting back in the car so we had to buy another bag of figs. The store in Oneroa sells them (supplied by this grower- that's his hairy arm in the photo) for $2 each!!! Food is expensive here. Two coffees and one scone at Onetangi Beach came to $17.50 but it was so nice sitting under an umbrella watching kids jumping the waves it didn't matter.

A beautiful autumn day

How nice to leave raincoats behind and head out in warm sunny weather. I have to stop halfway up the ski run to admire the view but David makes it to the top with breath left over to talk gutters to the man fixing a roof.

Coffee with a view in Oneroa at Wai then the car meanders off over the hills to Cable Bay where every turn of the road brings a new vista of sea and vineyards. To the right in the distance is Auckland, further along the peninsula narrows and you could have sea views fore and aft if you didn't mind the wind - just a gentle breeze today and mid 20s. It looks as if there have been big plans for subdivision here possibly derailed by the GFC; the few houses are magnificent and scream "architect" except for an orange-roofed monster which seemed to get into every photo.

Cable Bay vineyard gets the nod for lunch and I'll have to review my star system because it is better than yesterday's. ***** The restaurant has a breathtaking view over to Auckland and a collection of beautiful wind - not statues , sculptures perhaps - that flip and float on the breeze most attractively.

We follow a road to have it end in a walking track which we take to find it heading toward Matatia where the ferry is getting ready to leave. In the other direction we find a shelly beach of birds standing in the mud watching the tide go out, which happens really quickly. Not a beach to swim from! A two minute drive across the island brings you to the western side and Little Oneroa Beach which is sandy and kids are swimming.

The sun is out!

Our little Hekerua Bay sparkles in sunshine this morning. Here is the view from the bedroom window:

First day on Waiheke Island

Monday 12th March 2012

This is known as the Island of Wine: there are 31 vineyards here and about half of them have restaurants open for lunch. I don't think we can visit all of them so will have to choose carefully. First stop is Food Embassy in the working village of Ostend for an excellent coffee (I swear yesterday's was caffeinated - my usual order of skinny decaff latte is too hard for some people to remember).
The roads swoop around many little bays and skirt high hills like ours dotted with weekend cottages ("our bach" to NZers) some of them primitive and some palatial. Ours is in between: can't say I like the shower under the house which entails going outside to enter - fortunately there are no near neighbours.

Lunch was inland at Stonyridge Winery where we sat on a verandah looking out at a north-facing slope of vines and a paddock of horses. Very good food - roast lamb for me and duck for David. You are asked to tip which seems odd for NZ but done amusingly so you don't mind. The menu also offers duct tape for hyper-active children but the child at the next table us is very good with her colouring-in so no-one ordered duct tape.

Fast flight to Auckland

It only took three hours to get here from Melbourne with a tail wind and soon we were checking into the Copthorne with a harbour-view room. The first thing you notice is hardy Kiwis in shorts and thongs while tourists huddle into their jackets against the wind. I'd looked up the weather before we left and noted temperatures in the low 20s and 80% chance of rain so we have raincoats with us. The wind dropped a bit in the evening and we were able to eat outside at one of the restaurants along the pier with a view of the water. We are partial to water views.

Sunday 11th March
All we had to do was drag our suitcases across the road and we were at the ferry terminal for Waiheke Island, then a short smooth trip across the sea to Matiata. A bus was waiting which we took to Oneroa for lunch and a reconsideration of transport options. It took about five minutes to decide we need a car. So back to Matiata on a bus. Buses are cheap and frequent but to see anything you need your own wheels. The car-hire man was a fund of information: the island is 23 kms long up hill and down dale, there are 8000 permanent inhabitants, 4000 weekenders and in January 20000 visitors - only about 4000 at the moment. I'm glad we chose March in spite of the drizzly weather. It's a favourite wedding venue and many of the visitors are here for that. Some permanents commute to Auckland for work.

I chose Bayview Cottage off the Internet for its name and yes - it has a wonderful view. It's halfway down a precipitous slope: you leave the car at the road then plunge with your luggage (thank goodness we've only got one case each) down a grassy glassy slope to the house. The sea is a "5 minute nature walk" for mountain goats on down the mountain to a dear little bay with a couple of yachts bobbing at anchor and a shingle beach.
David inspected the oysters growing there but having had bad experiences with oysters in the past there's no way he'll eat them.

Bonus trip to New Zealand

Last October we were marooned in Los Angeles for an extra day while Qantas had their strike. They reimbursed us for expenses incurred and offered a free trip anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. So we decided it might as well be New Zealand in March as we love going there and have always wanted to have a look at Waiheke Island, a 38-minute ferry trip from Auckland.

The internet pulled up a myriad of choices of accommodation and we decided on a house, Bay View Cottage - the name says it all - and we're promised the sound of waves.

We're off on Saturday morning with an incredibly early start from Melbourne airport.