St Patrick's Day on Waiheke

I had to go shopping for green. Being a lowly backpacker, I was without my traditional Irish green clothing, jewelry, and other accessories to accompany my outfit for St. Patrick’s Day. Luckily there are two “Op Shops” (aka thrifty stores) on the island. I was able to score a simple green T for $1.50. (Really breaking the bank….)

So I headed off to the Irish Pub (there is but one on Waiheke) called Malone’s. It was a bit of a steep cover -- $15. When I arrived mid-afternoon there was some musicians playing traditional Irish music (whiskey in the jar, Molly Malone, etc). They had some step dancers perform some snazzy face-paced Lord of the Dance style dancing for a bit. The second musician was a guitarist and he played mostly mellow covers by groups like U2. The final musicians of the evening were excellent! I haven’t a clue what their names where, but they were extremely enjoyable.

They offered pints of green beer (via food coloring) and had plenty of baileys and Guinness on hand for the drinking folks. Check in the pictures for the pie and pint competition. It was pretty much a riot. I hung out at Malones for most of the day and made many new friends along the way. There weren’t too many people for the afternoon, so I circulated around and me most of them. As it got busier in the evening, I had already made some friends and one of my co-workers, Vivy, joined in the party. I met an interesting Scot, who was pretty funny. I totally picked out a group of Americans (one was wearing a baseball hat ~ Indiana Colts and it was a dead giveaway) and made friends with them. One girl was actually from Missiouri, but the rural part southeast of KC in a town I’d never heard of. We still did a shot for good measure together. Overall, it was a very enjoyable St. Pat’s day and I can’t complain in the least bit. Slainte agus tainte! (Gaelic toast meaning Health & Wealth).

St Pat's 2007