I am a type 1 diabetic; constant and passionate traveler. I have briefly been to Europe, lived in NZ, and backpacked through Southeast Asia and did a short trip to Australia and the Cook Island, and backbacked through South America. More adventure here we come!! Fiji? Check. Where next??
Friday, April 27, 2007
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
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 ...
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Davenport & more of Waiheke |
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
A New Adventure, A New Name for the Blog?
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 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
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
After I was finished at
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
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.
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The Bottom End |
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The Bottom End |
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Adventures at Sea ...
So my last group of pictures were from quite a bit ago … but I still had an enjoyable time. I spent one day at
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
After having a laid back lunch overlooking
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Palm Beach & Mudbrick |
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Another Weekend, Another Vineyard or 2
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.
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Te Whau & Sunset |