Waiheke Weekend

We decided on Sunday to give the Ziervogels a break and take the ferry to Waiheke Island. Quinne was very excited to hear that we were going to take a fairy. We told her we were going to the beach to alleviate her disappointment about the fairy actually being a ferry.

It took us 30 minutes to drive to the ferry terminal from North Shore. We pulled onto the ferry as it was pulling away without enough time to even buy tickets. It took about 1 1/2 hours and cost $140 return.

It rained all day on Sunday. We drove around in the rain looking for somewhere to stay and looking around the island for about an hour. We finally saw a B&B sign and checked it out, but no one was home. A little further up the road we saw a sign saying “Eco Lodge”. The fauna on the steep path down to the house was incredible. Sue, the owner showed me around and told me it would cost $140 dollars for the night. That included breakfast. We had a room upstairs with a shared kitchen downstairs, and bathrooms around the corner. There was only one other guest; a girl visiting from Germany.

Sue, her husband, and two boys aged 3 and 6, purchased the place in February. They really enjoy living on the island, and we could see why. It’s 35 minutes from Auckland, but feels like another world.

Before we checked in, we drove down to Woolworth’s to pickup some dinner supplies. The rain let up after dinner, so we drove down to the closest beach to go for a walk. The beach was full of shells. It was only during our walk along the beach that we realized what a magical place this was. There was no one else around, and we had the beach all to ourselves to explore. The beach was on the edge of a dotterel preserve, and we ran into a few busily readying themselves for the night. One was taking a bath in the shallow water. This beach had more shells than we’ve ever seen in one place before. Needless to say, Quinne was in shell collecting heaven. By the end of our walk both of her raincoat pockets were full of shells.

Amy got her first taste of driving on the left hand side of the road. After that first taste, she decided to spit it out. It made her a bit nervous, to say the least. Worst of all is the rule in New Zealand that if you’re making a left hand turn, you must give way to someone coming from the other direction who is turning right. This was especially bad for Amy, because she kept exiting on the next road to the left whenever she saw another car in sight. Quinne, wanting to soothe her mommy, said, “just do the best you can Mommy, I think you’re doing a good job.”

The ferry is pulling into the bay, so we’ll shut down and post this later.