Hi
Today we set the alarm for 7am and got up at 8.30am! This sleeping lark is amazing. Anyway we raced up and had breakfast and was at the port in time to catch the 10am ferry to Waiheke. Following a 35 minute ferry we were met the other side by Judy who was to be our guide for the island.
The island is quite small and is really a holiday mecca for the summer months (Oct-Mar) although many people commute on the ferry to Auckland each day. Some of the houses are amazing with fantastic view of the ocean but also come at amazing prices.
The island is home to 22 vineyards and our tour was to include 3 of them plus a trip to an olive/avocado oil farm.
We drove around to see some of the amazing views before stopping at the first vineyard called obsidian. For those crystal lovers of you obsidian is a volcanic stone and the black variety is one of the most powerful called the wizard stone. Although not found generally on the island the owners used to work with obsidian but when they started to farm the land obsidian was found in the fields because the Maoris used to use it as a tool (you never knew reading this would be informative did you?).
Anyway back to the more important information the wine on this vineyard was amazing from the sauvinion blanc and chardonnay through to the Merlot and the Syrah (yes we tried them all, it would have been rude not to).
We left this vineyard and went on to one called Kennedy point, the wine was not quite as nice as the first but they produced great olive oil and avocado oil which soaked up the wine a bit.
We left this one to go to a third but it was shut! Apparently it is not winter hours even though it was 23 degrees and sunny. We left this one and went onto a fourth where we were to have lunch, this place was amazing and it had won many awards for its wines and its restaurant.
We were given a table overlooking the ocean and sat for several hours eating and trying yet more wines, apparently the 2005 vintage was much better than the 2006 although the 2006 went better with cheese??
After 2 hours we left this restaurant and was due to go back to the port but we asked Judy to stop at a beach so we could finally go for our first swim in the ocean. It was amazing, we swam for about 20 minutes and then took a walk along the beach before being collected again by Judy who took us back to the port.
We arrived back into Auckland at 6pm and walked back to our hotel. I went for a 45 minute run and we decided to have a night in the hotel, do some emails etc. Although the night is still young yet!!
Today we set the alarm for 7am and got up at 8.30am! This sleeping lark is amazing. Anyway we raced up and had breakfast and was at the port in time to catch the 10am ferry to Waiheke. Following a 35 minute ferry we were met the other side by Judy who was to be our guide for the island.
The island is quite small and is really a holiday mecca for the summer months (Oct-Mar) although many people commute on the ferry to Auckland each day. Some of the houses are amazing with fantastic view of the ocean but also come at amazing prices.
The island is home to 22 vineyards and our tour was to include 3 of them plus a trip to an olive/avocado oil farm.
We drove around to see some of the amazing views before stopping at the first vineyard called obsidian. For those crystal lovers of you obsidian is a volcanic stone and the black variety is one of the most powerful called the wizard stone. Although not found generally on the island the owners used to work with obsidian but when they started to farm the land obsidian was found in the fields because the Maoris used to use it as a tool (you never knew reading this would be informative did you?).
Anyway back to the more important information the wine on this vineyard was amazing from the sauvinion blanc and chardonnay through to the Merlot and the Syrah (yes we tried them all, it would have been rude not to).
We left this vineyard and went on to one called Kennedy point, the wine was not quite as nice as the first but they produced great olive oil and avocado oil which soaked up the wine a bit.
We left this one to go to a third but it was shut! Apparently it is not winter hours even though it was 23 degrees and sunny. We left this one and went onto a fourth where we were to have lunch, this place was amazing and it had won many awards for its wines and its restaurant.
We were given a table overlooking the ocean and sat for several hours eating and trying yet more wines, apparently the 2005 vintage was much better than the 2006 although the 2006 went better with cheese??
After 2 hours we left this restaurant and was due to go back to the port but we asked Judy to stop at a beach so we could finally go for our first swim in the ocean. It was amazing, we swam for about 20 minutes and then took a walk along the beach before being collected again by Judy who took us back to the port.
We arrived back into Auckland at 6pm and walked back to our hotel. I went for a 45 minute run and we decided to have a night in the hotel, do some emails etc. Although the night is still young yet!!
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