A Day Trip to Waiheke Island

On our second day in the city we took a ferry over to Waiheke Island. The view of the city from the ferry was beautiful. Once on the island, we walked to their little town center. We stopped at a fruit and veg store to buy water and some fruit (I had a yummy NZ pear, Shaw an apple). After we ate the fruit we continued walking thru the small town and came upon a beautiful view of the ocean and a beach. We bought some sunscreen (for $20.00!), sprayed ourselves down and walked down to the beach. As we sat on the beach we decided to take the bus for a tour of the island. We ended up on a beach called Onetangi beach, where we had lunch (I had yummy fish and chips). There I spotted the native New Zealand pigeon! Which  is much prettier that any old pigeon you will see on the side of the road. We played on the beach for about one hour, and then took the bus to a local vineyard, Stoneridge, and had a wine tasting.

That night we went to dinner in Auckland Harbor at a restaurant called Degree. Here, you choose the type of meat that you want, and they bring it out on a hot rock and you cook your own meat right at your table. You have to cut the meat into small strips so it can cook thoroughly on the rock. I had sirloin steak and Shaw had pork and chicken. It was really fun! Afterwards, we had gone to a gelato shop and tried the kiwi favorite flavor “Hokey Pokey,” (butterscotch like flavor…only better).