A Ferry Ride Away
Waiheke is a short or long ferry ride form Auckland depending on which ferry you catch. We are very intrigued by the ferry way of life. It seems like riding the ferry on a regular basis would be a fun way of life, enjoying the beautiful views and breeze on your face. It could be an easy way to find pause in daily life. The boys took the ferry back one night to go see the 21 Pilots concert and the girls and I went back for some holiday shopping. We love how accesssible Auckland is by ferry from Waiheke.
The Lodging: BellaVista
We picked this spot for Christmas because we like the modern house with a whole wall of windows. So different from our house at home. They did not show the crazy basically one way road to the house in the Airbnb description. It is a drive you want to be wide awake for, there isn’t much traffic which makes it not completely stressful but it is a factor to consider if you wanted to live here. It was a beautiful spot to be even with the rainy weather.
The Activities:
Hiking, paddle boarding and flying the kite board trainer kite were the activities of choice here. There are beautiful jungle - like trails right from the house to Rocky Bay (about 30 minutes) and to the boat launch. We stashed our inflatable paddle board that we brought from home amongst the dingys and kayaks. Jason enjoyed starting his birthday morning with a paddle board ride.
The Ostend Market is exactly as advertised, it is everything under the sun. It is not a produce, farmers market, it is an ecelectic market totally worth the visit if you have an open mind. I wish I had taken the time to go to the Tarrot Card reader. We enjoyed it for some of our last minute holiday gifts (crystals & necklaces) and the kids enjoyed some tasty crepes.
Waiheke is all about their vineyards. The island’s history of being the timber supplier to Auckland provided a lot of cleared land for vineyards to be developed. There are helicopter tours of the vineyards, or you can take the public bus around the island and hop off at vineyards along the route. Being that we are on a family vacation with our kids we only visited a couple. And each one was worth the visit with their own unique story and wines.
Photo from Helicopter Me
Mudbrick Vineyard is a charming vineyard and restaurant with a feeling of deep history but in fact was established in 1992. It is a story of two young people planting and building together with their customer always in mind. They have created a wonderful experience at a beautiful spot. And their Chardonnay is a perfect balance winning many awards.
Tantalus Estate is a beautiful vineyard with stunning gardens. We had fun watching a sophisticated crowd come and go by helicopter. They are known for their Bordeaux wines.
The Frenchman Hill’s Estate is our favorite vineyard on the island. We love how it is situated right on the cliff above the Putiki Estuary. The wine maker, Luc Desbonnets, is a serious student of wine taking him to France in his youth only to later learn that he had winemaking relatives in France. His wife, Anna, is an interior designer with a charming shop at the vineyard. Together they own the vineyard making it a very approachable friendly family owned vineyard with their kids often found jumping on the trampoline in the yard.
Frenchman Hill’s Estate Shop
Man O War is a very popular large vineyard down a long gravel road ending at the beach. We enjoyed sitting on the porch tasting wines. There is bocce ball game in the yard and picnic tables through out to relax at this vineyard.
Wild on Waiheke is a multi-activity vineyard with clay shooting, archery and an oversized chess board - creating a place for adults and kids to enjoy - truly a unique spot. Imagine if Buckrub added a vineyard?
Waiheke wasn’t super wild for us. It was quiet and quite rainy in fact. But still beautiful. We were all a bit homesick at Christmas missing our family and friends. Jason and I are loving the quality time with each other and the kids. But we understand how it can be a lot of together time for our teenagers. We are trying to manage that with not doing everything all together. I do believe through this extended time, just us, we are learning so much about ourselves and each other and the answer is always love. We all just want to be loved, to know we are loved, to feel love, and to share love. Sometimes the stories we tell ourselves can get in the way of the love, but if we can pause and connect to our heart, love is always there.
Picture credit @sierrasteiner on Instagram and Vsco
We are ready now to switch gears, island hop and head to the adventure capital- Queenstown, New Zealand.