Waiheke: Wine country

We visited a not-so-small island called Waiheke after our trip to Paihia. Waiheke is about a thirty minute ferry ride from Auckland. It reminded me of a cross between Bainbridge Island (for you non-Seattle folks, this is a touristy/commuter spot also about 1/2 hour from the mainland) and Hawaii. We experienced some of the best weather so far on the island. Locals said it is generally a few degrees warmer than Auckland. Waiheke is home to many vineyards and wineries. We didn't visit as many vineyards as we would have liked, but we did taste some of the local grapes (after they had fermented for a while of course).

Waiheke was larger than Erin thought when she booked the hostel. Our bus trip out took us farther and farther from food, a minor problem after a day of travel but bus, ferry, and then bus again. Luckily we found an excellent restaurant, the Cat's Tango, located right on the beach that agreed to keep their kitchen open for us a little longer. We blew our budget on some local wine and delicious seafood. It was a worthwhile extravagance; we recommend this place if you find yourself hungry out at Onetangi Beach.

Our hostel was on the opposite side of the island from the main town, Oneroa. It was just up a rather long flight of stairs from a superb beach, Onetangi. Personally, I could have stayed there for another month. It was so tranquil and just far enough away from the towns; there was hardly any traffic. I think we only saw about 10 or so other people on this stretch of sand, and that was on the weekend.

We left on Saturday. The mass exodus from the ferry from Auckland made it obvious that Waiheke is a popular day/weekend trip for Aucklanders. The beauty of the beaches and the quality wines are obviously well known to NZers.