1 December 2024 -New Zealand- Waiheke Island

It was not raining when we woke although it was a little grey. The view from the house was amazing – as per last night’s picture. It was good to go outside on the terrace and look around in the dry. The scenery, plants and bird song were lovely and inspiring.

We had a leisurely breakfast and relaxed and sorted ourselves out. We then decided to walk into town but via the coast path near our house. We found it and walked through a bit of a forest before we came to the shoreline and then walked along to little Oneroa beach which was lovely and the sea was just rolling in on the beach. We walked on and into Oneroa and then found a nice Italian Café called Felice and had a great coffee sitting outside and watching the world go by. We then walked on. Oneroa is full of shops with clothes, carvings, art galleries and of course an amazing deli called Island Grocery. This had great bread, cheese, and fruit and vegetables. We bought a few things and then walked on to an amazing ice cream shop with some great flavours such as lemon crumble, peanut butter and caramel etc. We all had one and thoroughly enjoyed it.

By this time, it was getting warmer and we could feel the sun. We continued shopping and an estate agent was having a wine tasting so we stopped and enjoyed some wines from three wineries on Waiheke. There were some good ones and we bought a few bottles and they also sold some olive oil which they also make on the Island.

Due to all our shopping, I walked back to get the car and then picked everyone up and the shopping. We returned to the house which felt quite warm due to the sun and there is quite a lot of glass. We opened up the terrace and sat outside and enjoyed the warmth and the view. We then had a cup of tea and chilled.

We then had a barbecue and cooked cheeseburgers with tomatoes and salad which was actually quite good. We then had some cheese and biscuits. The picture of the day is the 4 of us at the supper table about to tuck in.

The house has a tv room downstairs so we went to watch a film. We plan to visit some wineries tomorrow.

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com