WINE ON WAIHEKE

To commemorate Liam's last weekend in New Zealand I decided to book the two of us a little overnight stay in Waiheke. Waiheke is the second largest island in Auckland's Gulf Harbour and is known as New Zealand's "island of wine". Waiheke's subtropical climate is perfect for growing Bordeaux wine-type grapes as well as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, and is home to many popular vineyards which feature spectacular views of the Gulf and the island's beaches. The island is convenient enough to get to, but the 40 minute ferry ride transports you to another land where you don't feel like you're in Auckland anymore.

Given the circumstances I thought it would be nice to try something new and romantic but still friendly on the bank account so we decided to give "glamping" a go. For those who don't know it's a clever play on the words glamorous and camping, two words you wouldn't normally put in the same sentence until fairly recently. I had to admit, I'd always wanted to try it, what with being surrounded by nature but without getting a tent full of bugs, and waking up with a bad back from sleeping on the ground. Glamping proved to be a far more pleasant experience than the camping we'd been familiar with over in Australia. This particular tent I found is at Fossil Bay Lodge, which is conveniently located only a short walk from Oneroa and the main town. They had a great set up of 4 of these Lotus Belle tents and a couple cute little cottages. It made for the perfect tranquil getaway.

Getting around Waiheke was a little bit of a hassle with limited bus services, but since our ferry didn't depart till 7pm the following night, we were in no rush and made the most of our day there. After checking out we caught a bus to Palm Beach, where we spent the day sunbathing and cooling off in the clear blue waters. Afterwards we went to a couple vineyards, where we tasted wine and pretended we knew anything about it. Wine tasting can seem like such a pretentious hobby, but the wineries in Waiheke made us feel welcome either leaving us to sniff, swirl and taste without feeling self conscious with our 'at table' tasting at Wild on Waiheke Vineyard, or carefully explaining the tasting notes, scents and what paired nicely with each wine at the Te Motu Vineyard. On our way to Te Motu vineyard we were disappointed to only just realise there was a walking trail to Onetangi Beach through some of the vineyards, if we go back someday I'd love to do this among many other walks the island has to offer.