Day 6 & 7: Auckland.

God! It’s so hard keeping track of the days! When you don’t have a routine and you are living in the future it can get very confusing! (Added to which I am easily confused!)

Anyway I think this is Day 6 & 7!

Having been to the top of the Sky Tower,  but not being allowed to have a drink in the revolving restaurant, I decided to book lunc for today.  There is a minimum spend of $30, which is approx £15 I felt I could realistically spend this (on wine alone!) it meant that I could relax and enjoy the view without demented children trying to freak me out! It also meant that I could have a lie in and not rush about first thing.

I got up at a respectable 8.30ish and headed out to continue with my hop on hop off bus tour. This time the bus went to the east of the city, it was great, there is lots to see, and some interesting historical information regarding Land reclamation, land grabs and the fights that the Maori people have had to go through to protect their lands.

After the bus tour finished I headed up to ‘Orbit 360’ to enjoy my lunch with a view!

The restaurant is lovely, the views spectacular and the food was delicious! The restaurant revolves round although it does it very slowly (thank god!) I’m sure in the summer when there is no clouds or rain the views must be awesome, they are pretty good with cloud and rain, the added bonus being we get rainbows (I’ve now seen a rainbow everyday I’ve been here! ) after my luscious lunch I had a wander down to the Marina again, the sky’s were dark and it looked like a storm was heading in. I then walked back up through the city, had a look in some shops, decided not to queue up for Gucci, how very common darling!! I Found a fabulous independent book shop called ‘Unity’ Grantley would love it!

eventually I came back to the apartment, around 6pm, tired and still a little jet lagged, I think this must have been the reason I ended up watching an episode of ‘Love Island’!! OMG! I’m not even sure it’s this years, it could be any year! I followed up this cultural eye opener with Hawaii 5 O! Sadly not the original (Book ‘em Danno!) 😂😂

After this I made my way to bed! I managed to get another reasonable nights sleep, although I was woken up by some bizarre amplified singing type thing around 1pm!  Odd.

This morning I was up early, showered and out of the apartment by 9am. I was hoping to spend the day visiting Waiheke Island. I had a brochure, detailing my options. There are lots of Wineries on the island and I could have done a wine tour. In the end I opted to just do the Hop on Hop off bus with the ferry included, this then gives me the option to stop at several wineries as well as other points of interest.

The ferry arrived promptly, and I jump aboard, I found a great seat with good views outside, which was fab until the ferry started to move at which point the cold air and wind was a little too much! The ferry takes 40 mins to get to Waiheke from Auckland.

I must admit it was nice to get out of the city. We pass the volcanic island of Rangitoto, which is still active and last erupted 600 years ago (which is not really that long ago in volcanic terms!) Auckland is built on several volcanoes, Maungawhau, (Mount Eden) Maungakieke (one tree hill) Pukekawa (Auckland Domain) to name a few. (Jenna you really need to visit!!)

The island of Waiheke is absolutely beautiful, it felt totally different to Auckland, Green, hilly, with gorgeous beaches! I definitely felt like I was in another country here. Auckland City is fab, but it is like many other cities.

I jumped onto the bus and headed to the main little town/village called Oneroa, which was so lovely, the beach was fab and it had lots of amazing little independent shops and cafes. The guide on the bus informs us that house prices in Waiheke are really high, a house just sold for $21 million NZ dollars! The average price is around $300 NZ! I can understand why! It is a stunning island. I had some brunch in Oneroa, with a lovely view over the beach, joined by some very bold sparrows!! Then I jumped back on the bus to explore a bit more. The island isn’t that big so once I got to the other side, Onetangi, I jumped off again and had a walk along the beautiful sandy beach and dipped my toes into the Pacific Ocean! 😍

back on the bus again this time time in search of a good winery! I decided to stop at Mudbricks Vineyard, it has a good reputation and the grounds looked fabulous.

The Cellar door was $10 NZ for 4 wines, a bargain I felt, I ended up chatting to the lovely lady doing the tasting ( she was originally from Surrey!)  and tried 6 including a sparkling wine for the same price!! They were really very good, I surprised myself by liking the Chardonnay! Although my fav was the Sauvignon Blanc. The grounds and the views were breathtaking. After Mudbricks I went to Cable Bay Vineyard, which is just down the road. It has a great reputation and their wines are supposed to be good, but the whole experience was lacking for me, no personal touch, not great views. I much preferred Mudbricks!!

After my tastings and a bowl of chips and another glass of wine I headed down to catch the ferry back to Auckaland. Once on board the ferry I spotted another stunning rainbow! I am now 6/6 a rainbow everyday I’ve been here!! 😍🌈

I am now back in the apartment, sipping some wine (surprise, surprise!) having stopped on the way home for some Vegetable fried rice in the little local place across the road! I did have some trouble ordering, I had wanted chicken fried rice with vegetables, but apparently this is not an option, it’s either chicken or vegetable god forbid the 2 shall meet!! 😳😳 but hey ho I was happy to forgo the meat (as I’m sure you are Nikki and Georgia’s!)

Tomorrow I am leaving Auckland and heading south to Rotorua! It’s a 4.5hr bus drive through the middle of the island, which I think will be fab! I’ve  Just got to work out the logistics of getting me, my case and backpack up 3 short but very steep hills to the bus station! ( drag it? Push it, or pop  next door to the hotel and ask them to phone a taxi for me!!?) decisions, decisions!!! 😂😂

night all! Or actually I think  it’s Morning all! 😍😘😘