Down By The Sea

I bitched and moaned about Auckland when I first got here about 6 weeks ago. I still maintain that it has no soul. This time around though I decided to spend some time with a good friend on Waiheke Island which is only 35 mins out of Auckland's ferry terminal by boat.

This island is green, quiet, large, and beautiful. The terrain is rolling green hills and at the very Eastern end of the island are outcrops of granite rocks and boulders resting on the grass. It looks strange as they dot the landscape like the sheep I have become used to. The weather was kind, as it has been throughout most of my trip here, and we both had a lovely time going about the island.

It was extremely restful and we both checked out some wineries (the wine was not that great but it was a good stop on a suicidal bicycle ride - too many hills) and one even had a brewery on the go which pleased me no end. After the bike ride it was always nice to get back to the hostel and cook. One night we took someone's recommendation and tried the local chippy. The snapper was fresh and it really was the best fish and chips I think I have ever had. The bloke who recommended it to us told us this and I scoffed, as I do, but he was so very right.

At one end of the island are the remains of a WWII gun battery. You can still see the huge hole where the gun was pivoted and this thing shot shells as far as 30 miles! There is a network of tunnels underground on the site which we were able to get into and they seemed to go on forever. I got the feeling that they wanted to develop it into a museum as there was a lot of construction equipment in the rooms and it was all intact and largely dry.

In the evenings, watching the sun set in the West we could see Auckland City in the distance reflecting the twilight. It was such a nice feeling knowing that I was not over there and I did not have to listen to traffic or wierdos as I fell asleep.

All in all, Waiheke is like a proper country retreat from the City. It's well worth spending a couple of days there.

So that winds-up my NZ trip. I have spent about 6 and a half weeks here and I will come back. From here I fly back to Melbourne (I hope it's not raining) and then onwards to Cairns in Queensland where I will make a start on my trip along the East coast.

For some reason NZ has had quite a profound effect on me. I think it must be the tap water.

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