Spirit of the Antipodes Day 4

There’s one in every group and we’ve already identified the one in our pre-tour tour group! But I am getting ahead of myself.

The day was ours to do as we liked, so after breakfast we checked out the new Auckland underground rail loop and the shiny new stations with wide uncluttered concourses and multiple levels of escalators to reach the platforms (3 levels at Karanga-a-Hape!).  We exited each of the three new stations (the red square on the map below) to check out the area, before moving onto the next. 


At the first, Te Waihorotiu, we popped out right beside the Civic Theatre where we saw Jesus Christ Superstar last night. After a bit of wandering we found the impressive Town Hall building, the Strand Arcade, and then dropped into a nearby OpShop before returning to the underground and boarding the next train. 




We had already visited the Karangahape area, but took a brief walk, and found another OpShop to check out, before re-entering the station and heading for the third and final one in the underground loop, at Grafton. 

We left the station but decided there was nothing to see here, so went straight back in and quickly found a train to take us back to the CBD. 

There was a nice little laneway at the back of the Waitemata Station, close to our hotel, so we found a cute cafe in a sunny courtyard (yes, the rain from yesterday had disappeared and the sun shone all day today), and had lunch. 

We then went back to the hotel for some R & R and to ready ourselves for the commencement of our pre-tour. We were to meet in the hotel foyer at 3:30 before catching the 4:30 ferry to Waiheke Island. Most of us were in the foyer before 3:30, with the exception of the lady I alluded to earlier, who arrived 20 minutes late, and then, after some uncertainty about actual group numbers had been sorted out with the organiser, and we were about ready to leave, she disappeared again. 

Finally we all left (19 of us) for the ferry. It was a lovely trip on sparkling water across to the island, passing other scenic islands and various vessels along the way. Disembarking after 30 minutes, a head count as we were boarding our mini bus revealed someone was missing … guess who?  Finally she arrived, having been up on the outer top deck and not having realised everyone had disembarked!  

Our driver then took us on a scenic trip around the northern most inhabited end of the island with interesting commentary about the island’s infrastructure, facilities and eye-watering house prices. We also learnt that Waiheke Island is renowned for its wine and olive oil production, as well as beautiful beaches like Onetangi and Palm Island. In peak season the population grows from 9,000 to 30,000. 


Following the tour we were dropped at the Michelin-starred restaurant, Archive Bistro at Mudbrick Winery, where we enjoyed a delicious meal with complementary wines.  Over dinner we chatted with a couple from Perth and another from Canberra. 



The weather had turned cool and damp again as we caught our ferry and travelled back to Auckland and I was wishing I had brought an umbrella and a warmer jacket with me. 

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