9/17 Explore Waiheke Island

Today we took a ferry to Waiheke Island, one of the largest off New Zealand, and home to 10,000 people. We got a bus tour of the island narrated by Neil (also the driver) and had both a wine tasting/tapas and an olive oil tasting.

Our ferry was quite early, so we stopped in the main town of Oneroa for 30 minutes where Sandy and I stumbled on to a shop selling creative styles of clothing made from Merino wool. Both Sandy and I loved the styles and the colors and she found a jacket she loved and I got 3 colorful pair of Merino wool sox. 

Then we took off for a scenic tour of the island. Lots of houses ranging from simple to elaborate and many beaches defined the island. Water access is a challenge here and rain catchment and storage tanks are the primary ways to maintain adequate supplies. If you run out, it costs $300NZ to half fill a tank, which lasts a couple months. Because of this, homes, no matter what size, are limited to 2 bedrooms.

When we reached Casita Miro, the mosaic walls, designed and created by the owner, were immediately noticeable. He has retired from running the winery and has been building his walls for 10 or more years.We sampled 5 wines and later got a wonderful selection of tapas. The wine, unfortunately, was not impressive. The Pinot Gris was my favorite, but not so notable that I was willing to buy any. After our tasting and tapas, we wandered around a bit, admiring the mosaics.

Old Cork Tree

Our tasting flight and lunch menu

 

Then it was back on the bus for the trip to the olive oil tasting. They are in the process of updating their plant and tasting room elsewhere on the island, so in this temporary location, we saw a video of the oil creation process, then tried 6 of their oils. The first 5 tasted good, but pretty much the same. The last one was punchier, but because of that, less generically useful. I did buy 3 small bottles of the one I liked best.

On our way back to the ferry, there was a little more time for sight seeing. 

 

Back in Auckland, we started prepping for our move to Rotarura tomorrow, then went to dinner with some of the group to the Occidental, a long-time pub famous for its mussels. Sandy got some local green-lipped mussels while I opted for fish and chips. Then it was back to the hotel for more end-of-stay prep.