Waiheke Island

We are now on gorgeous Waiheke Island, in the beautiful home of Kerry’s parents Jenny and Kevin. The island is 45 minutes from Auckland by ferry. It is so tropical here; there are palm trees outside the window and the sound of cicadas and birds in the foliage. The house has a full wall of glass looking on to the sea, with the buildings of Auckland tiny in the distance. There is also an outdoors balcony which runs the length of the house, and as well as the huge living room there is a large dining room which can open up fully onto the garden, where there are many exotic plants and a frog pond. The way that the inside of the house is integrated with the outside is truly stunning. 

There is a path from beside the house which leads down to the beach at the sheltered bay. At high tide the beach completely disappears and its steps lead directly into the water which is wonderful. The water is quite warm which makes it very easy to get into and I have enjoyed two swims there, accompanied by Jamie, Kerry, Kevin, and lovely Luna, who is half shepherd, half collie. She has a gentle nature and loves swimming to retrieve sticks. 

When we arrived on Friday (10th) afternoon Kevin gave us a scenic car tour around the island, before Jenny showed us into the bright downstairs flat and later we had a delicious dinner with the dining room opened up to the outside. Kevin’s Aunt Pauline was also with us, and their close family friend Sarah. Paulin's husband sadly and suddenly died last week so she is going through a difficult time.

Today (Saturday 11th) we all visited two wineries (Mudbrick and Tantalus) before having a late and leisurely lunch at a third, Casita Miro. Waiheke Island is famous  for its wine and all of the wineries are situated on picturesque hillsides, mostly overlooking the sea, which is never far away on this lovely island. The lunch consisted of a variety of Spanish tapas which were absolutely top notch. We ate so much that nobody was hungry for dinner!