Day 5 recap (Sun Feb 13)
[Stef] Hello again. I am here to recap Sunday's visit around Auckland. We decided to go over to Waiheke Island and explore the beaches and shops (click for more). After I got my sleep, Scott was starting his - so we got a late start. I explored a local grocery store and surroundings while Scott got some sleep. I was so tired that I can say it wasn't hard to "force" myself to sleep. I was lucky enough to get about one hour of sleep on that flight. When I woke I was fortunate enough to get to know my large-and-in-charge neighbor. She and her husband are self-professed rednecks from "the part of California that's almost Oregon". It is also a big ranching town and so she said they were a wild bunch. I guess that explains why she pulled a can of Natural Light beer out of her purse and squealed in excitement. This of course really got her husband excited too. Her husband was the guy on the plane who had is dinner-plate sized belt buckle open for the duration of the flight. I practically ran off the flight when we landed.
Anyway, we got a late start to the island, we took the 11:40AM ferry ride over and began our adventure. Included with this entry, you will see the picture a nice Engish lady took for us. Of course we weren't sure if she knew what she was doing, and from the picture you will see how much of a professional she is. It was a nice trip on the boat and we enjoyed the beautiful sights. Upon arriving, Scott thought renting bikes would be fun, I didn't agree looking at the hilly terrain. You can imagine how happy I was when we got to the rental place and the attendant wasn't there. phew! We walked to the little town of Oneroa. We decided that each of us would take turns picking things to do. I went first and I picked to have a drink and a bit to eat in a local eatery. We did, and it was really great food! We tried a local brewed beer and it was quite good. It was getting to be about 3 so we had to move on.
Scott was told by the woman at the information booth that Palm Beach was the place to go for some seclusion and relaxation. We agreed this is what we should do and headed there. We grabbed the bus and for only 5 bucks we got to go as fast as the bus could go to the beach. I felt like I was in a stolen car in the movies. These roads are so narrow and all the other drivers are crazy too... It was an adventure in itself.
As soon as we got to the beach we experienced "Murphy's Law" and it began to rain. We sat under the biggest, fattest palm trees we had ever seen until the short shower let up. We then walked down to the beach. There were a handful of people at the water's edge. Maybe we are hard to please after Hawaii, but this beach wasn't getting a "wow" out of us yet. So we walked down to feel the water - that got a "YE-OOW" out of us! It was so cold! So we decided a walk on the beach would suffice before we just relaxed and read our books. Scott wanted to walk the whole beach, and since this was his pick, I obliged. We walked the length of the beach and then decided to stop and sit in the sand and relax. As we were picking a place, Scott quietly said, "Stef, are those people naked?" I looked up and saw a very nice looking, very naked elderly couple enjoying the ocean breeze. No wonder the lady told us it was secluded, it was a nude beach at this end! So we just stuck our noses in our books. Not long after we got to our little spot did this end of the beach fill up with nude, older people. Once the sun came out they all went and frolicked in the freeezing water. Once again, I felt like I was in a movie, except this time it wasn't about racing stolen cars.
It was close to five, so we headed up to catch the bus. We took it back to the ferry launch and then caught the ferry back to the mainland. We grabbed a bus back to the hotel and decided we weren't hungry for dinner so we did some organizing for our travels and went to sleep. All in all the day was wonderful. We got to see a bit of the "real" NZ and enjoy the picturesque landscape. Auckland is definitely a city worth exploring.
It's Monday now and we probably won't get online for a while since we are heading to the countryside of New Zealand's North Island. We are going to do our laundry, get our rental car and head south toward Waitomo Glow Worm Caves and Tongariro National Park. Auckland was such a pleasant city, we look forward to seeing what the rest of the country has to offer!
Anyway, we got a late start to the island, we took the 11:40AM ferry ride over and began our adventure. Included with this entry, you will see the picture a nice Engish lady took for us. Of course we weren't sure if she knew what she was doing, and from the picture you will see how much of a professional she is. It was a nice trip on the boat and we enjoyed the beautiful sights. Upon arriving, Scott thought renting bikes would be fun, I didn't agree looking at the hilly terrain. You can imagine how happy I was when we got to the rental place and the attendant wasn't there. phew! We walked to the little town of Oneroa. We decided that each of us would take turns picking things to do. I went first and I picked to have a drink and a bit to eat in a local eatery. We did, and it was really great food! We tried a local brewed beer and it was quite good. It was getting to be about 3 so we had to move on.
Scott was told by the woman at the information booth that Palm Beach was the place to go for some seclusion and relaxation. We agreed this is what we should do and headed there. We grabbed the bus and for only 5 bucks we got to go as fast as the bus could go to the beach. I felt like I was in a stolen car in the movies. These roads are so narrow and all the other drivers are crazy too... It was an adventure in itself.
As soon as we got to the beach we experienced "Murphy's Law" and it began to rain. We sat under the biggest, fattest palm trees we had ever seen until the short shower let up. We then walked down to the beach. There were a handful of people at the water's edge. Maybe we are hard to please after Hawaii, but this beach wasn't getting a "wow" out of us yet. So we walked down to feel the water - that got a "YE-OOW" out of us! It was so cold! So we decided a walk on the beach would suffice before we just relaxed and read our books. Scott wanted to walk the whole beach, and since this was his pick, I obliged. We walked the length of the beach and then decided to stop and sit in the sand and relax. As we were picking a place, Scott quietly said, "Stef, are those people naked?" I looked up and saw a very nice looking, very naked elderly couple enjoying the ocean breeze. No wonder the lady told us it was secluded, it was a nude beach at this end! So we just stuck our noses in our books. Not long after we got to our little spot did this end of the beach fill up with nude, older people. Once the sun came out they all went and frolicked in the freeezing water. Once again, I felt like I was in a movie, except this time it wasn't about racing stolen cars.
It was close to five, so we headed up to catch the bus. We took it back to the ferry launch and then caught the ferry back to the mainland. We grabbed a bus back to the hotel and decided we weren't hungry for dinner so we did some organizing for our travels and went to sleep. All in all the day was wonderful. We got to see a bit of the "real" NZ and enjoy the picturesque landscape. Auckland is definitely a city worth exploring.
It's Monday now and we probably won't get online for a while since we are heading to the countryside of New Zealand's North Island. We are going to do our laundry, get our rental car and head south toward Waitomo Glow Worm Caves and Tongariro National Park. Auckland was such a pleasant city, we look forward to seeing what the rest of the country has to offer!
posted by Mama of 2 sisters, 1 voice at 3:22 PM
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