Eating In Waiheke

After our bird life adventures, we headed over to Onetangi to have lunch at Three Seven Two, a restaurant we’d discovered the previous year which seems to be going great guns at the moment. It’s on The Strand at Onetangi, with great views out over the beach. I had the kingfish and Nicola had Stracciatella cheese with nectarines. This is definitely a good place and will be on our itinerary for future visits (whenever they may be – we plan to take a break from Waiheke next year).

After a swim at the beach there, we made our way back to Oneroa for some ice cream at the ever-popular Island Gelato Company. Then we lollygagged all afternoon.

In the evening we went to the bistro at Cable Bay Vineyard. This is one of the more upmarket vineyard dining options on Waiheke. Having perused their menu, we decided to do a DIY tapas-style dinner rather than a standard three-course, and ordered a selection of small plates and entrees including goats cheese croquettes, chicken, prawns, salmon and mixed veg. Put like that, it doesn’t sound like much, but it was all beautifully prepared, many with a Japanese-style dressing or flavour. Another one to visit again, when time allows.

We’d set the satellite system in the car to take us there, but failed to set it to take us home, thinking we’d be able to find our way without any problem. Not so. We’d missed a turn somewhere, and found ourselves heading along an unfamiliar road. As we drove along, we saw three figures walking by the side of the road, so thought we couldn’t be too far from habitation…until the road petered out in a dead end. We turned around, again spotted the three people, who waved us down. They were as lost as we were! They turned out to be cabin crew for Qatar Airways, over here on a day trip, and had been led astray by Google Maps on their way back to the ferry. It had been daylight when they set out to walk back to the ferry, but now the sky was darkening and they were worried. Having set the sattie to home, we gave them a ride down to the ferry terminal so that they could get back to Auckland. Fortunately the ferries run late at night, and they would have been able to get the 9:30 back to the mainland.

Good deed for the day done, we returned to our studio. Tomorrow we head back to Auckland.

Waiheke

It was a lovely sunny morning, and we set out in search of breakfast. We didn’t have to search very far, as our studio is just off the top of the main Ocean View Road in Waiheke, and it was but five minutes’ walk to Wai Kitchen, for avocado on toast, eggs benedict etc.

After breakfast we did a quick shop at Four Square for future breakfasts, then set out in our car. We’d rented a RAV4 with the specific purpose of visiting one of the vineyards we’d not been to on any of our previous visits to Waiheke: Man O War vineyard, in Man O War Bay. There are two ways to get to this: over miles of unmade road (hence the SUV) or by sea.

We arrived around midday, to find the place was pretty full. There were a lot of boats moored offshore, and RIBs and similar tied to the beach. Clearly, arriving by sea is a popular option. 

We went to the tasting room first and I tried all the wines on offer (Nicola stuck to the whites). We were particularly taken with the riesling, and I also liked the syrah, so we got some of those to take back with us. How would we manage that? I hear you ask…well, this time, even though we’re only away for five nights, we’d brought a suitcase! So we’ll be able to pack some wine in to take home.

We stopped for lunch there as well. The lunch offering is more pub than fine dining, but they have extensive grounds with picnic tables, and a wide selection of pizzas, breads, olives, etc. I opted for fish and chips and then wished I hadn’t, as they clearly weren’t produced on the premises. You live, you learn. Nicola had a caprese salad which looked way yummier.

Vehicular visitors are enjoined not to drive back the way they came, but to continue on Cowes Bay Road to get back on the surfaced road network. Given the narrowness of the road in some places, this is a good idea. We stopped off along the way at Little Oneroa beach, almost home, for a swim in the bay there. The water is like bathwater compared to our usual Scorching Bay.

In the evening we went out to Fenice, Oneroa’s favourite Italian restaurant.

Romeo And Juliet

Time for our annual pilgrimage north, and this time I’ve organised things so that we don’t have to spend too much time hanging around. We caught a 10:45 flight up to Auckland, picked up a rental car at the airport, and drove straight to the Pop-Up Globe in Ellerslie, for the two o’clock matinee showing of Romeo And Juliet. See?

We were there by one o’clock, which gave us plenty of time for a leisurely lunch, and a glass of wine before the show. We’d booked early, so had a choice of seats, and decided this year to look out over the other side of the stage to where we’d been for the previous two years. Still in the middle tier, but stage left instead of stage right.

The production followed a similar format to previous years’ shows – the main actors in period garb, whilst others (notably the gang members, soldiery etc.) were in modern attire and carried automatic weapons instead of swords. Juliet was a bit screechy and rattled through her lines like she was late and wanted to get home in time to watch Shortland Street, or something. Amongst the fighting there was a fair amount of gore, and it appeared that some of the groundlings weren’t prepared to be showered with fake blood (unlike when we went to Julius Caesar, when they seemed to positively revel in it, deliberately wearing white t-shirts so it would show up!) Other than that, there were no surprises, and the play wound down to its predictable end.

It hadn’t been a sell-out gig so the crowds in the car park weren’t as bad as I’d feared, and we were able to make a speedy getaway, straight to the car ferry at Half Moon Bay. The ferry arrived, and we prepared to be called onto the ship. Nothing happened…followed by more nothing. Then a second, larger ferry hove into view. “Ah! Perhaps this is our ferry!” I said, and this did indeed turn out to be the case. “Cutting it a bit fine for loading, though”, I thought…but no! This ferry is of such a size that we didn’t have to go through the rigmarole of reversing on that we did last time. We just drove up to the back of the ferry, turned around, and drove back to the front, facing out! Genius!

Not only was loading and unloading much quicker, the journey was too, and we were off the ferry after ¾ of an hour, and driving up to our accommodation on Waiheke. We’re staying at Blue Birds studio just of the main Ocean View Road, at the top end of Oneroa. We met the owners, sorted ourselves out, then walked into town to our pre-booked dinner at Aperitivo, where we enjoyed terakihi, gnocchi, a cheese platter and some lovely wine, as the sun set.

Tomorrow: adventures!

A Quick Recap

“Where have you been?” I hear you cry! Yes, it’s been a while since I last blogged, and I’ve been busy leading tours at Zealandia. Late December and early January are peak season for cruise ships in New Zealand, and it seems there’s been one in most days over the last month or so. Added to that, many of the guides are away themselves over Christmas and New Year, so the burden falls heavily on those that remain in Wellington and are available for work. This includes not just cruise tours but the regular daily tours offered by Zealandia, known as Zealandia By Day (to distinguish it from Zealandia By Night), or, in the jargon, ZBD.

In amongst the busy-ness, however, we’ve still found time to go out and have fun…although maybe not enough time to blog about it. Still, I know you hang on my every word, so here’s our Graham with a quick recap:

Uma Lava: A play about three island folk who all end up in the same place. And yes, it’s not The Good Place. Very amusing, as it is slowly revealed why each one is there…and they’ve all been bad. Their hell is to stay in the same room with each other, for all eternity. There’s a big reveal when the cardboard box – the elephant in the room – is lifted, to reveal what lies beneath. Also starring Paul Mclaughlin, better known to most kiwis as Dave from the FMG adverts, as the Devil.

A Traveller’s Guide To Turkish Dogs: This probably warrants a full blog post, which I’ll get around to when I’m back home (“Why? Where are you?” “Aha! All will be revealed soon!”) but is basically a story about a guy (kiwi, of course) who travels to Turkey. And there’s a dog.

More soon.