We got sunstroke the first time. Straight off the red-eye from LA we arrived at the Hilton, coincidentally not even a stone’s throw from our balcony today, and after unpacking we decided to catch the ferry next door, to the magical island we’d heard about many times.
We’re talking the Cotswolds of NZ, fancy summer pads, rolling hills and easy reach of the city. That’s the end of the parallels as there’s no cute cottages, but the essence is there - for leisure or retirement it’s beaches, bays, boats - oh and the perfect micro-climate for growing wine!!
The passenger ferry takes 45 minutes, and heads into a bay on the very west of this butterfly shaped island. We start walking east passing several beautiful beaches until we’re finally at Onetangi Beach for lunch. Google shows only one eatery, Charlie Farley’s, but in fact there are three. Charlie’s looks good so we get a jug of beer (never writing that before, but it seemed like the right thing to do) and hubby orders fish and chips. I see something new and go for cauliflower burger which the attending young lady tells me is fabulous. A 1/2 inch slice, dusted in curry powder then battered and fried - yep it was fabulous and now I’ve got to work our how to recreate it (I’ve done it sous vide so I have an idea!)
We’re as far east as we want to go so turn south now and climb back into the hills, walking some road and some recreational tracks. Before long we can see water again and we’re in Ostend where they film Ostenders, the TV soap, unless the posters we saw were just mischievous?
Following the coastline we enjoy glorious views as we pass various neighbourhoods including the very sleepy Blackpool Beach!! We climb back up into the hills, past a very inviting winery but we’re 12 minutes too late so continue on through woodland back to the ferry and are in plenty of time to catch the 18:00 back to Auckland via Davenport on the opposite side of the harbour.
We’re not expecting any pre-dinner engagements tonight as the ship is overnight in Auckland so there’s not much going on. We enjoy a Chardonnay on our balcony in more lovely sunshine before dressing for a special dinner.
Tonight we’ve asked chef to make us Lobster Thermidor for a change, and of course that also requires champagne - a fabulous dinner, chef excels himself and the staff are all excited to be serving something requiring pliers, cutters, pokers and finger bowls!!
Even though we’re not rocking at sea the Internet is abysmal, so photos don’t get done, indeed it’s a struggle to get this updated.
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