Waiheke Island
Waiheke Island is a tropical paradise, not the first thing I thought of when I used to picture what New Zealand would be like. But just a 40-minute ferry ride from the busy streets of Auckland, and you end up in a relaxed island of beaches, bright blue water, vineyards, and windy roads that curve all over the hills.
We met up with Nick again at a really nice cafe.
Then I made our way to the harbor to buy tickets. We climbed up to the top deck of the ferry so we could see the bay in all its glory. The wind up there was so strong! Standing up felt like being in a wind tunnel.
We had such a good time on the ferry, we pulled into harbor and missed the memo to get off. We sat there talking about something dumb and all of a sudden Nick looked up and went “guys, everyone’s off the boat already!” I looked at the deck below and the last passengers were queuing up on their way off. No harm done. It gave us a good laugh.
On the island we rented a car. We drove for all of 10 minutes before we came across a beach so gorgeous it didn’t look real.
This kind of place only happens in movies, right? There’s no way the water is THAT blue. It must be an illusion. My favorite vantage point was at the top of the hillside above the sand, where the sun was shining and the trees blocked the wind, and you could see far across the bay.
We spent the rest of the day driving around the island, stopping in at beaches where we could find them. Kate and Nick went swimming; I didn’t get in the water because I’m a wimp about the cold. I took pictures instead! And painted, and tried to befriend the ducks on the beach.
Waiheke is known for its vineyards and we stopped at one. It was Spanish-themed and had all these cool mosaics around its walkways and gardens.
We ended the day trying to find a good spot to watch the sunset. We got turned around a couple times, first for entering private land and then for giving up on walking across a barnacle-encrusted beach. Got some lovely views of the harbor in the warm glow of the sinking light regardless!
Trudging up, up, up the steep slope back to our car (you would think staying in a hostel on the fifth floor with no elevator would have prepared us for this!), we happened to turn around and got the most incredible sunset. The light was setting perfectly behind the Auckland skyline, making all the buildings stand out against the orange glow of the clouds. It was so striking. I’ve never seen a sunset like that before. We stood there for a while, taking it in, and it was a fitting end to our day on Waiheke.
