ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25 April every year to remember members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who landed at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. (copied from Wikipedia ~ I don't plagiarize). It is a public holiday much like Veteran's Day and to commemorate the veterans of foreign wars, people wear poppies. To get a poppy, you donate money to the RSA - Returned Services Administration or something similar. Of course, I bought a poppy while I was out and about. They sell them at many locations around town before ANZAC Day.

ANZAC Day fell on a Wednesday and I got the day off. Yippie!! It also happened that Paul & Claire, who own the place I live, were having a party. I got invited over. Double Yippie!! I was treated as part of the family as Claire's family was over for a visit. We had a late and lieserely lunch and enjoyed the fantastic warm and sunny weather. Claire's day came over via his own boat, while the rest of the family came over on the ferry. We had some yummy curry and pasta with delicious wine. Claire made a scrumptious chocolate and caramel dish for dessert. Needless to say, I had two pieces. It was a very lovely party and I was so excited to be a part of it. It was a wonderful way to spend one of my last days off on Waiheke. :-)

Shopping Spree & Davenport

So,... I finally left the island! I have been on Waiheke for too long... since I landed in the end of February actually. It's been good fun and all, but I was ready to climb back on the ferry and head for another shore. Davenport ended up being my destination.

Davenport is a lovely little coastal town. It has plenty of historic and pretty buildings. I went on the historical walk that the helpful lady at the info center gave to me and just enjoyed my afternoon. I read the history as I traveled around and enjoyed the view. It was warm and sunny, so I soaked it all up. They say its fall here, but the climate in the Auckland area is rather mild. It doesn't snow here and so I'm used to cooler falls and harsher winters. Thus, there fall is still very agreeable to me.

After enjoying my afternoon in Davenport, I headed into Auckland. I reached Auckland via ferry (which is also how I arrived in Davenport). It's a quick 12-15 minute ferry ride and is nice. I proceeded to shop my socks off and enjoy it. I went up "K Road" (the actual name of the road is like 14 letters long and since its a Maori dirivertive, I wouldn't be able to pronounce it anyway.) It was quite fun shopping and very addictive. So many things are different and I want to buy them all. After spending too much money, I got onto the wrong ferry and went to Half Moon Bay by accident. Yikes.

I did eventually make it back to Waiheke and enjoyed relaxing into bed and thinking about all of my lovely purchases. He he he ...

Davenport & more of Waiheke

A New Adventure, A New Name for the Blog?

My new adventure has just been finalized. I am leaving for Hanoi, Vietnam on May 8^th. I’ll be meeting my friend Mike Blumenthal in Hanoi and we’ll travel by land through Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Singapore. We’ll take another plane to Sydney, Australia for a few days and then end up back in New Zealand for more than a month.

I’m very excited about my upcoming move and can’t believe it will only be 2 more weeks until it starts! That said… to all of my loyal and not-so-loyal readers… any suggestions for a new name for my blog? I won’t be just adventuring in NZ with the Kiwis ….. please feel free to post back to the blog or email me what you think.

THANKS!

The Other Side of the Road, The Bottom End

I showed my proof of license, hoping I wouldn’t be denied, and offered up my credit card information for a deposit. She smiled and had me sign on the dotted line. The weather was turning sunny and I hoped it would remain. It was early last Friday morning and as I was handed the keys to my rental for the weekend, I hoped that I wouldn’t make a fool of myself. They drive on the “wrong” side of the road, the left side, here in New Zealand.

I tossed my backpack into the car, put the key in the ignition and calmly re-assured myself that I could handle this. I turned off the radio and watched the traffic. I started the engine and began to move the vehicle ~ a little mazda four door. Much to my dismay, the car grunted a bit and I paused. Maybe this was a bad idea. Claire, the friendly gal who helped me with the paperwork, started out the door and I nervously rolled down the window. “You’ve got the parking break on. I’m sure when you take it off it will go smoothly!” She chirped and smiled. The parking break? This is an automatic! Why would you put the parking break on when I’m clearly on level ground? Yikes. I took the parking break off and nervously made my way towards my first intersection. I looked left, looked right, looked left again, looked right again. I inched forward. Check both ways again. Waited for a car to pass. Looked again. Finally, I pulled out. I was on my way on the other side of the road. Yippie! Let’s hope I’m able to handle the “round about” coming up in town.

I successfully navigated my way through the little town of Oneroa without much traffic. I headed towards Ostend, where they have a lovely market on Saturdays with fresh produce, locally produced goods, books, and other knick knacks. After arriving safely at the market and parking, no small feat for me, I padded myself on the back and enjoyed perusing the market. I didn’t stay too long or buy too much, I had a 10:30 am appointment to keep at Connell’s Bay Sculpture park.

Connell’s Bay Sculpture Park is located in Connell’s Bay (duh!). Connell’s Bay is part of the island called the “bottom end.” The roads are “unsealed” aka unpaved out this way. Needless to say, it is no where near as populated as the other part of the island. I headed out that direction, being sure to give myself extra time since I was driving “like a nana” as my friend Kim from work would say. I carefully drove my way there and almost drove by Connells Bay. Jo Gow, one of the owners and also a shareholder at Cable Bay, met us at the top of the driveway. The Gows are private art patrons, it is not the tax-haven in NZ that it is in the US Jo explained she is only able to deduct $200 a year from her taxes for all of the art support they give in the community. The tour of the sculpture park is on the Gow’s private property and is fantastic. Most of the artists are NZ artists and the sculptures range in materials, inspiration, and location. Jo escorted us on the walk through the property and explained to us about the artists and works as we moved through. It took us about two hours. At the end of the lovely tour, you are brought back to the small gallery space for more info, and some additional pieces of art by the artists on display. I really thoroughly enjoyed the tour and can’t recommend it enough. The views were fantastic as well, but being a complete airhead left my camera in the car at the top of the driveway. So, no pictures of this lovely experience.

After I was finished at Connells Bay, I continued exploring the bottom end. Of course, there were some vineyards I stopped into. These will probably be the last vineyards I visit on Waiheke, as I’ve basically been to almost all of them. The ones I haven’t been to either told me there was nothing to see or their wines were produced under a different label. First off was Passage Rock Estate. Passage Rock Estate had a lovely line of wines. Their vista views was not my favorite and Nadia who worked in the tasting room told me all sorts of things she’d heard about Cable Bay – most of them not the greatest. Ahh well.

Moving along to Christensen Estate, Julie who is one of the owners gave me a tasting. She was full of information and extremely friendly. Her husband Basil, her daughter, and herself only live on the island on weekends since they work in the city during the week. This “project” is to provide them with something to do and income for when they “burn out.” Quite a lovely plan. They are a very small vineyard producing a premium Merlot which is also on CBV’s wine list and a “feather white.” Their feather white wine is made from merlot grapes like a rose, but its properties of color and flavor are closer to a white wine than a rose. I bought a bottle, at $18 NZ it was more affordable than their Merlot ($44) and quite interesting. I enjoyed it and liked the unique-ness of it. Or at least the sound of it because Julie was a successful lady with sales … They also produce olive oil, which is typical of vineyards. It’s easier and less fuss than wine.

The bottom end also held my first encounters with sheep – be sure to check the photo album. I’m told they are everywhere, but I hadn’t seen any up close until my trip to the bottom end. The views were fantastic and I enjoyed my adventuring around. Another “must see” of the bottom end is Stony Batter. Stony Batter is a city park reserve and historical site. The rocks that developed here are lava-volcanic rocks and litter the hills beautifully. The historical piece comes from the “secret” fortifications that were built up here in WWII. With the help of the Americans, the kiwis built some tunnels and gun encampments. Waiheke is further out in the harbor than Auckland, and was meant to protect in case of Japanese attack. NZ was never attacked during WWII and they fell into disrepair. Now they are a bit crumbling, but you can still go through them. I found the entire place fascinating and when finish the walk, you can climb up and out and have a marvelous view of the entire Hauraki Gulf. It was stunning. You do have to walk a little bit to find the little museum, which is staffed solely by volunteers, but its worth it.

After a long tiring weekend adventuring around the island, I successfully survived driving on the wrong side of the road. The rental was a total rip off, but one couple owns both rental companies and there really isn’t a way around the monopoly. I did manage to loose a hub cap on the way and have to pay $25 to replace that. Arrrgh…. Another weekend, more money spent.

The Bottom End

The Bottom End

Adventures at Sea ...

What a week! This is day 8 of my 8 days of working in a row. Easter weekend is the last big weekend on Waiheke. It’s the end of season for us. As a consequence, they adjusted my work schedule so that I was working for the big weekend. Good Friday & Easter Monday are public holidays, so I got paid time and a half for working them. I can’t complain too much about the over working that I’ve been doing, but I am very excited for the weekend.

So my last group of pictures were from quite a bit ago … but I still had an enjoyable time. I spent one day at Palm Beach, the beach closest to my little studio apartment. Palm Beach has really lovely sea views. It has a lovely little track down from the road that gives you the opportunity to look out into the Gulf. Fantastic. The little path also happens to lead down to the nude beach section. I didn’t realize it until I got down there, as there are no signs, but I moved along to the other section of the beach. I then found the local ice cream shop and treated myself to a luscious ice cream cone. Yummy!!

On Thursday (so a week from yesterday ~ which was my last day off between these 8 straight days) I went kayaking. It was wonderful. I didn’t bring my camera along since I didn’t want to risk damaging it, loosing it in the ocean, or anything. So, no pictures! The company that does all the kayaking is Ross Adventures. I had a very friendly and handsome local, named Andy, take me out on the tour. It’s supposed to be a group tour but no one else signed up. This then resulted in a private tour with the adorable Andy. After a quick demo on the beach and explanation about sea kayaking, I signed off on a waiver and strapped on my life jacket.

Andy recommended tandem kayaking so that we’d be able to go further. Alright with me! I climbed in first and Andy hopped in the back and then pushed us out to see. The kayak tours leave from the Matita warf, where the ferry arrives from Auckland. It’s littered with other sailboats, too. As we slowly made our way towards the open ocean, Andy told me all about NZ Christmas trees, pointed out the wealthy homes on the island, as well as trying to help me learn all the islands in Hauraki Gulf. We kayaked for about 2 hours and then beached ourselves on a lovely little beach that doesn’t have road access. Andy said that there are tons of beaches only accessible from the water. We shared some ½ frozen juice and a snack bars. It was relatively warm, so we both decided to go for a swim. It was a very lovely swim and I tried hard not to use my arms so I would be able to complete the feet back to Matita. We rowed back at a slow and steady pace. The sky was sunny and warm with a few clouds when we left, but as we approached Matita the clouds had turned to a much darker grey and it looked like rain. Before we hit the coast, we kayaked under the ferry warf which was partly creepy and partly interestingly cool. It was about 12:45 pm when we arrived back and I was quite thankful I had only signed up for a ½ day instead of committing to the full day. My arms were quite tired. Andy warned me that my arms would be sore the next day, but having the luck of being young and resilient, I fared just fine on Friday.

After having a laid back lunch overlooking Church Bay, I decided to walk to Mudbrick Vineyards. Mudbrick is the closest vineyard to Cable Bay and the two institutions are good friends. Both of our vineyards remain open daily year-round, which is not typical of the vineyards on the island. After Easter, if the vineyard stays open, generally it is only on Saturdays or Sundays from 11-4 or so. Our wine makers are close friends and we have a steady flow of people that visit both Cable Bay and Mudbrick. Mudbrick is a very popular location for weddings and when they are closed for a wedding, they help send business our direction. Mudbrick is also a younger vineyard, being founded in 1992 (CB was founded in 1996). Their facility includes a “cellar door” (which is kiwi for tasting room) and restaurant. Their wines are produced at a different facility in “Shepards Point” which is on the other side of the island. Bob, the gentleman working in the tasting room, was extremely friendly and did a very fun tasting. Since they comp-ed the tasting, I decided to have a glass of their Chardonnay and enjoy it overlooking the view. Ahhh … lovely afternoon. Just thinking about it adds to my anticipation of this beginning of this weekend (finally!!).

Palm Beach & Mudbrick

Another Weekend, Another Vineyard or 2

So, I had a crazy fantastic time visiting Destiny Bay Vineyards. It was pretty rainy and wet so I had left the camera at home. Sorry, but no pictures!! Destiny Bay is an uber exclusive vineyard that currently exports all of its wine to private collectors in the USA. Sean, the manager, is extremely friendly. They are not open to the public, but since I'm in the industry, he gave me a private tour and spent an hour with me explaining to me all about Destiny Bay. It's a very beautiful vineyard and the facility is perfectly clean and well cared for. After the extensive tour and explanation on why Destiny Bay wine retails for upwards of $275 per bottle, Sean invited me to do a barrel tasting. This means I was able to sample the unfinished wine straight from the barrel. I was a bit hesitant and worried it'd be sour and difficult to stomach. Even unfinished, it was great. I doubt I'll ever be lucky enough to sample the finished product, but it is recommended for about 10-15 years of cellaring. Extremely impressive.

Besides wine, Waiheke makes lots of superb and fancy olive oil. I was able to visit Rangihou Estate and do an olive oil tasting. It was a first for me and it was still fantastic. I was able to try 6 different varieties of olive oil as Anne explained the different textures and flavoring. When you do a wine tasting they give you a cracker/bread and water to cleanse the palate. In olive oil tasting, you are given a piece of apple to cleanse the palate. You can buy their olive oils and have it shipped to the US... expensive, yes, delicious, absolutely.

On Saturday, I continued my adventures around and squeezed in yet another vineyard. Te Whau Vineyard ("wh" is prononced similar to an "fff" sound) is a well-known vineyard because of their extensive wine list. They have over 600 wines on their wine list and Wine Spectator Magazine has rated their wine list as the top in NZ and in the world repeatedly. They produce an extremely limited amount of their wine. Their Chardonnay is only available in their restaurant or bar area. You can't even buy a bottle to take home with you. Their merlot blend is available only in a select few NZ restaurants and locations. They were extremely friendly over here at Te Whau and I quite enjoyed their Chardonnay. Their merlot blend was rather lovely too, but I wasn't buying any to take along.

After Te Whau Vineyard, I stopped into Te Whau Garden and Gallery. The art was lovely, the tramp through the woods was okay. I did slip a few times and got a bit muddy since it had been raining. However, it was still lovely and enjoyable and interesting to see. :)

That's it for now ... more later ... but Easter weekend is a huge 4-day weekend (Good Friday & Easter Monday are public holidays) here and so it might be a bit before you hear more.

Te Whau & Sunset