24th March – too many hills, shared growler, iffits dinner
Onetangi Bay is home to Waiheke’s longest beach, is good for swimming and has 2 cafes – so a trip there seemed like a no-brainer… and why not do it by bike?
The direct route was just under 8km but included 100m of climbing in 1.5km so Nick planned a route that was around 14 km but only has 160m of climbing in total so looked like it would be doable. It wasn’t.
After an initial downhill rush it was just sloggy climbing… after around 3km Nick was dripping with sweat and Karen’s knee was complaining. So they did the sensible thing and re-routed via Surfdale & Blackpool along a coast-hugging route that was flatter with a small climb that brought through Alison Park (to look at the sculptures), then to the ‘top’ end of Oneroa in time for coffee and crepes at I Love Crepes – lemon & sugar for Karen (obviously) while Nick opted for Karamel Sutra.
Then an easy freewheel down to Oneroa Beach for a chilled couple of hours sunbathing, swimming and reading, all set against the background of what appeared to be the final of the Waiheke International Pétanque Club’s final.
Once they’d had enough sun it was a short ride back to the top of the town for ice creams to provide fuel for the 2km ride back to the AirBnB to watch the sun set whilst consuming the ‘growler’ of Tutti Hazy Milkshake IPA and ‘iffits’ i.e. “if it’s there, eat it”…
25th March – Waih-eaty Island?
Today was an activity that was been booked into the itinerary very early on – long lunch at Poderi Crisci. When Nick left his contract at Springer Nature his colleagues on the team very generously gave him a voucher to be used here (on the recommendation of a member of the team who has a Kiwi husband and family on Waiheke Island).
As it was a long lunch it was decided that rather than try and fit something in in the morning and then feel pressured to complete that and get back in time to beautify themselves for lunch they’d just take it easy and hang out at the AirBnB.
Nick spotted a praying mantis on the window, which made for an interesting photo (they saw one yesterday as well, so they must be quite common on the island). The morning was spent chilling out on the balcony, relaxing until getting picked up by the taxi to go for lunch.
The tax driver was very, very chatty and initially thought Karen was called ‘Nicky’ which was doubly confusing as he kept saying “Nick something something…” then would say “So Nicky, what do you think about blah blah…” and Nick & Karen thought he was calling Nick ‘Nicky” (which he hates). Once the names were corrected it was fine, though with both the taxi driver and Karen being a bit deaf there was a bit of repetition and guesswork involved in the (somewhat one-sided) conversation.
Poderi Crisci was lovely – clearly a place people go to celebrate – there was a Hen Party at the table next to us and most of the others were tables of 6/8 with people dressed up for the occasion.
The long lunch is ‘trust the chef’ so you get multiple courses brought over several hours (3 in Nick & Karen’s case). Beautiful surroundings, delicious food and a surprising choice of wine – a bottle of Chardonnay! It was the waiter’s recommendation and while Karen & Nick normally steer clear of Chardonnay, after a taste they were both convinced – beautifully fruity (pear drops) and the hint of oak was subsumed when paired with food – luscious.
After several hours of eating, a glass of bubbly & the bottle of chardonnay it was time to get the taxi back. Once again, very chatty – which helped keep them both awake after the booze and food!
Side note: they’d originally got a quote from a different firm of $70 each way but they bumped into Ian (the chatty taxi driver) in Oneroa and asked him for a quote and were told “$55-60 each way”, hence opting to go with him.
In the end it was $81 there and $79 back…!
26th March – early kayak, brunch, Nick makes a friend, tapas
After a couple or pretty easy days (17km total of cycling the day before yesterday counts as ‘easy’, apparently) Karen (more than Nick for a change) was itching to be more active… so they drove down to Sandy Bay to take Otto out.
The tide was higher this time and they opted to go round Hekerua Bay and into Oneroa Bay. Sadly there was nothing to see in terms of wildlife – no rays or the Orca that come into the bays to feed on them… though I think seeing an Orca whilst in an inflatable kayak would possibly be a bit too ‘exciting’ for comfort!
Still a very pleasant way to spend a little over an hour pootling 5km and working up an appetite for brunch at Wai Kitchen which was good, though service was rather slow and it did seem a bit pricey.
Back to the AirBnB for a chilled afternoon, Nick found another praying mantis and it seemed quite happy crawling around exploring his arm – it was fascinating watching it cleaning its legs, holding the back ones with the front ones so it could reach its feet.
Rozelle (the AirBnB host) popped down and mentioned in passing that the boat you can see in the pictures of the bay is their motor launch ‘Phyllis M’ and is 103 years old! As you can imagine she’s (Phyllis, not Rozelle) got her fair share of tales to tell including being renamed, stolen, sunk, fitted with an extra mast, having a ‘conservatory’ added and later removed etc. Lovely chatting with Rozelle and learning about their ‘old woody’.
Dinner was booked at Aperitivo and Nick & Karen caught the bus in and back as part of the ongoing attempt to run the AT HOP card down.
Food was excellent (as it has been everywhere) along with some live music. Nick was particularly pleased to find an Espresso Martini Stout on the beer menu as strongly flavoured stouts/porters are his favourite beers.
A nice way to draw their stay on Waiheke Island to a close, though we’re all feeling a little sad that it’s not just the end of our time on the island but also in New Zealand…
Hugopotamus' adventures 