Bay of Plenty - Katikati Reservoir & Waihi Beach

We woke up to a stunner of a day on Sunday. Fully fuelled with pancakes, the children trotted on down to the lake in an attempt to rebuild part of the pier which had been demolished in the strong stormy weather a few nights earlier.

An hour later, project bridge reconstruction was abandoned ... option to fix bridge vs get out and about on the water... hmmm tough choice, so they all headed back lugging out their canoe, stand up paddle board and inflatable orange boat.

One by one they all headed out for a little jaunt along the river, such a beautiful setting to have right on their doorstep.

After lunch we then headed back again for another walk at Waihi Beach. The track to the left of the beach took us round the headland to another long stretch of white sandy beach lined with Pohutukawa trees. This beach has no road access so we had it pretty much all to ourselves and the children had a whale of a time busying themselves dam and bridge building… clever little things when left to their own devices!

Have to say, not turning into a tree hugger or anything, but I'm totally taken with the Pohutukawa trees here in New Zealand, just beautiful.

Finally on return back to Waihi Beach we met up with Chris, who had spent the day out on his canoe, hunter gathering sort of stuff, who proceeded to proudly show of his hunter produce, well chuffed with himself.

And then one last glimpse of Waihi Beach as the sun was setting before we said our fair wells and homeward bound back to Auckland. Stunning little break, fantastic friends. Thank you so so much for such a wonderful time. Until next time Nx

Waiheke Island - Land of Vineyards

Well into autumn now, but the forecast today was fab so we hopped on the bus to Devonport and caught the ferry over to Waiheke Island to sample some of the 22 vineyards it has to offer. Now hind sight is a great thing… Waiheke is a large island and it is definitely useful to have a car to get around (or even stay the night)...but on the assumption that driving and wine consumption aren't a great mix we thought it best not to bring the car.

One to add to the list...

As we soon discovered, the bus service runs in slow mo style, running on the hour and we really didn’t fancy spending our time hanging around bus stops. So it was an on foot expedition, and walk our little socks off we did….but on the positive, while you can’t cover as much ground, it is the best way of really getting to know a place.

Waiheke town is only a 15 min walk from the ferry port. A lovely little place… what I’d describe as rustic - full of shops selling unique items, with the odd gallery and studio thrown in for good measure. We made a quick all essential pancake and Nutella pitstop and then headed on down to the beach…. the start of our epic trek, end destination... CableBay Vineyard.

Our trekking adventure took us for a gentle stroll along the beach, then a clamber over some rocks, a lengthy session of rock pooling, up the embankment, hike across to the other side of the island to Blackpool Estuary full of birds waddling around in the mud...

Paradise Shelduck

...past a Wharenui (Māori meeting house) to discover a shipwreck...

battle up higher, higher and higher still over the never ending upward hill, more roadside rambling and yeah we’ve made it! All I can say is damn that chilled glass of vino was definitely welcome and tasted so good after our long walk! 

Cable Bay Vineyard is such a beautiful place with a fantastic relaxed atmosphere - a large seating area (where we sat) and people sprawled out across the lawn chillin’ on their bean bags and blankets, glass of vino in one hand sapping in the views of the Auckland skyline in the distance.

Morepork

The waitress pointed out a little 20 min shortcut back to the ferry and our eldest’s eagle eyes spotted a morepork (a New Zealand owl aka ruru) sitting on an overhanging branch over the path… totally awesome beautiful bird, and not all that common to see in the wild - so a brilliant little treat before we headed on our sunset ferry ride homeward bound to Auckland.

Takapuna Beach at Sunset

Beautiful day today... and a stunning after school family stroll to my favourite spot on Takapuna beach, not much to write really as I think the pics sum it all up....

So going to miss this.