Mid Tri Break: The Final Part.

   Friday was the most amazing day I’ve had in a while. Once I got over my mixup of the morning that is. I had planned to take the ferry over to Waiheke Island to go on a zip line adventure, but I went to the wrong ferry terminal in the morning! Ooops! I felt so defeated after having run all the way to the terminal so as to not be late, and to find out I had made such a big mistake. It was an easy fix though – I walked over to another wharf downtown, and got on a different ferry. My day wasn’t ruined after all! I got on the Fullers ferry to Waiheke at 8:15, and we were on the island by 8:50. It was a short trip indeed.

Goodbye Auckland!

   The Ecozip Adventure Company picked me up at the terminal, and we had a ‘mini tour’ on the way to the zip line site. The driver told us some cool facts and stories about the island, and we saw some spectacular views. I’m convinced that Waiheke Island is paradise! Only 8,000 people inhabit the island. It’s about 20 km long. The climate is warmer and drier than Auckland, even though it’s so close to the mainland. It’s known as The Island of Wine, because there are several award winning wineries on the island. The climate and location make it an ideal vineyard spot! Don’t worry, I went to a lot of vineyards to taste the wine and make sure it was good.

Welcome to Waiheke!

   Anyways, the Ecozip site was on top of Trig Hill, so once we got up there, we could see most of the island. I can’t even describe how amazing the view was! The group I was in all got situated, put our belongings in lockers, and went up to the first tower. We put on our harnesses and helmets up there with help from our 2 guides, and we were almost ready to go! We got a safety briefing, and watched one of the guides go down before us. He had to be on the other side to catch us, but it was nice to see how fast he went, and what the first line would be like.

Lookin' good and ready to go!

The top of the first zip line.

   There were two zip lines side by side, so we went down in pairs. There were 3 different lines in total. The group went down the first line in pairs, then we all met up at the bottom. The first line went over a little vineyard, and was relatively slow. It was a nice way to ease into it! We all walked down to the start of the second zip line, and went down in pairs again. This line was a little more intense! It went faster, and it was on top of the native bush. I took a video of this one, check it out!!

   Once again, we all met at the end of the second line to walk down to the third. The walks between each line were pretty short. The third line was the fastest and tallest. We were 55 metres from the forest floor! This line started out in the trees, then it opened up and it felt like I was flying. It was so so so much fun.

The top of the second line.

The top of the third line.

   After we had all come down 2 by 2, we met up at the end of the third line and loosened our harnesses. It felt so good to loosen all the tight straps and take off my helmet! The group started out on our bush walk back to the Ecozip headquarters. It took about a half hour. We were walking through dense native bush, and we stopped along the way to hear some info from the guides. It was really neat to see and hear all about it!

Our native bush walk back to HQ.

   The Ecozip company shuttle took me back to the ferry terminal after I was all done there. I rented a car, because I figured that would be the easiest and fastest way to get around the island. It’s big and hilly, and I wouldn’t get far if I was trying to walk!

Motorin'

I’m a little out of practice driving, but it was a piece of cake once I got used to it. Driving on the other side of the road isn’t so bad! I mostly drove around to wineries on the island. First, I went to a winery called Goldie. The wine was delicious, and the vineyard was set on a little hill overlooking the sea. Beautiful!

Wine for days!

I then went to Wild on Waiheke, which makes beer and wine on the island. I tried their beers, which included a ginger beer and a cider. Yum! This island really knows what they’re doing!

My yummy lunch and beer sampler.

I also went to the Poderi Crisci Italian winery. It was decent, but not as good as the first! I was not ready to leave the island after all the wineries had closed down. Since I had the car for the rest of the day, I drove around and explored. I did a big loop of the island. I probably said “oh my god” a thousand times that day. The views of the island were incredible. It may be the most beautiful place I have ever been. After being there for just one day, I already want to live there! However, most of the real estate costs around a million dollars, so I’ll have to get rich first…

Even the farmland on Waiheke was beautiful.

   I drove around the island past sunset, and watched a beautiful full moon come up. I had to pull over a lot to take pictures. I can’t even believe how stunning the whole island was, day and night. After I finished my loop of the island, I went to Oneroa village and had dinner at a cute little restaurant called Vino Vino. I also had wine, because I had to! I’m on the Island of Wine after all! I drove back to the ferry terminal, dropped the car off, and discovered I still had an hour till the next sailing back to Auckland. So, I went to the bar next door and had a beer. What better way to kill time? The ferry departed at 9:30 pm, meaning I had spent over 12 hours on Waiheke. It was so beautiful, and such a good day. It sounds like I drank all day, but it was spread out, and I really didn’t drink all that much! Anyways, it was incredible, and I’m sure that Waiheke is paradise. I would absolutely love to go back again!

Look at that parallel parking job! On the wrong side of the car and the street!

The full moon out over one of the beaches.

   I have had such a busy week! Saturday morning I spent in bed, relaxing, and it felt so good after being on the run so much. I had some plans for the day, but nothing to rigorous as it was my last day in Auckland, and I didn’t want to exhaust myself too much further. I bussed/walked to the Auckland Museum again. I really wanted to see the Maori Cultural performance they have, but when I went on Thursday, it was closed down for ANZAC Day. The performance was really cool, but it was too short! I would have loved to see more! The performers collected those of us who wanted to see the show, and brought us into the auditorium. They chanted, welcomed us, sang a welcome song, and introduced themselves. They were in Maori dress, which is not a lot of clothing. The performers showed us some past time activities, weapons, dance, and the haka, which is like a traditional war cry. I am so fascinated by Maori culture, so I loved the performance.

The lovely performers.

   After the performance, I headed downtown for the Voyager Maritime Museum. I stopped at a little café called The Chocolate Boutique on the way. There was chocolate everywhere.. I was in heaven! It was so so disappointing though! I got a brownie and butterscotch hot chocolate. Sounds good right? Wrong. It was gross. Bummer.

It looked so good! I don't know how it was so bad.

   The Maritime Museum definitely made up for how bad my chocolate experience was. I spent a few hours looking around, but I could have spent all day there. Dad, you would have liked it, and I know you probably would have read everything there! There was so much naval history there, and it was so cool to all kinds of different boats from the Pacific Islands. I wish I could go back, because there’s no way I could absorb everything with just one visit!

There were tons of old canoes from nearby islands, like these two.

Heaps of sailboats!

   It was about dinner time when I left the museum, so I wandered around downtown looking for a place to eat. I settled on the cleverly named Mexican Café, which was such a good choice. I had two of the most delicious tacos I think I have ever eaten. It was the perfect end to my vacation in Auckland!

   I took the bus home after dinner, to pack and prepare for my 6AM flight. I woke up Sunday morning around 3:15 when one of my roommates came home after a night out. How convenient! I would have woken up at 3:30 anyways. I got up, got ready, and finished packing up. I left the hostel at like 4, and walked to the bus stop. It was a little creepy at that hour, but not as bad as I would have expected. I caught the bus to the airport, checked in, and waited till my flight. We took off at 9:05ish and landed around 9:50. Another quick flight! It seemed like we were beginning our descent as soon as we had reached cruising altitude!

The beginning of the flight. The sun is just starting to come up.

Back in Wellington! This was the most beautiful flight I've ever been on.

   Overall, this trip was SO amazing. I had a couple snafus along the way, but nothing major. I had a lot of fun, and I would definitely go to Auckland again. I know I’ve said this a million times, but I am so lucky to be here!