Saturday, March 22, 2008

Easter Sunday on Waiheke Island







The traditional view of the Sky Tower in Auckland on the right. If you look closely, you may be able to see the bungy jumper on the righthand side about half way down.
Tane Mahuta, the giant Kauri tree. It's difficult to get an idea of the scale of this tree from a picture. On the far left, is the Ferry Terminal in Auckland.

Today, we spent the day on Waiheke Island where there are about 15 wineries, mostly specializing in red wines. It is about a 35 minutes by ferry across from Auckland. There were lots of day- trippers going back and forth to celebrate the holiday, swim on the lovely beaches, and visit the wineries. We were glad we had a car, as we could go at our own pace.

We had lunch at Stoneyridge Winery and enjoyed a bottle of their very nice sauvignon blanc. The small menu selections were plenty for lunch. Bill had bruschetta with goat cheese and proscuitto. I had a vodka cured salmon with passionfruit and saffron flavored yogurt sauce. Both were delicious. We visited two other wineries, Mudbrick (which is pretty well-known) and Te Whau which has a very modern winery overlooking the expanse of beaches, the end of the island, and vineyards toward Auckland. It's a spectacular view.

Last night, we enjoyed another wonderful meal. I'm sure you are tired of reading about these. We ate at Harbourside restaurant which is in the Ferry Terminal building. I'll go into the menu, if anyone wants details. It was just as good as Craggy Range and the setting on the poarch included a view of the Auckland harbor and a sunset sky. It couldn't have been nicer.

Tomorrow, we fly to the Cook Islands. We leave Auckland about 11:30 a.m. arriving there at 4:30 p.m. We gain a day, but lose an hour. We'll then be on the same day of the week as the US. I don't know what the internet sitiuation will be there, but trust I can continue with postings.

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