{"id":9642,"date":"2024-04-09T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T10:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/?p=9642"},"modified":"2024-04-17T21:49:56","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T09:49:56","slug":"island-days-are-the-best-kind-of-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/09\/island-days-are-the-best-kind-of-days\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIsland Days Are The Best Kind Of Days.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Up early, we went to Bobby Franks one last time for breakfast before we headed to the airport for our flight to Auckland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nelson airport is teeny tiny. I like teeny tiny airports because they are no fuss and usually not crowded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An interesting thing happened in the Nelson airport after we checked in and dropped off our luggage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we waited in a communal area of the airport arrivals and departures hall for our flight to be called rather than proceed to our gate. This is not uncommon in many countries outside the U.S. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, what was shockingly different to us was that we didn\u2019t go through a security station to X-ray our carry-on bags and we didn\u2019t need to dump out our water bottles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they called our flight, we simply scanned our boarding pass at the gate where an agent was assisting us and walked right on the plane, which was a short walk on the tarmac.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ummm. \ud83e\udd14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the aviation safety regulations here? Why were our carry-on items not screened? I had nothing of interest in my bag, but could the guy next to me say the same (not Mitch, the other guy)? I was amazed and alarmed at the same time. Since this was a domestic flight, there is no screening!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To take my mind off of things like terrorism, I tried to watch a rom-com but couldn\u2019t concentrate, even on the insipid plot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hour and twenty minute flight was thankfully uneventful and couldn\u2019t have ended soon enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We grabbed an Uber to the hotel where we will be staying at in Auckland after our Waiheke stay to store some of our luggage because we didn\u2019t need to take all of our bags to the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our driver then dropped us at the Fuller Ferry terminal for the thirty five minute crossing to Waiheke Island<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Waiheke Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Waiheke, meaning \u201ccascading water\u201d in M\u0101ori, is known as the island of wine and home to over 30 wineries. The island\u2019s population is about 9,000, many of whom commute to Auckland for work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Most of the residents rely on rainwater harvested from roofs for drinking and household water use. So resourceful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jamie, our Airbnb host, picked us up from the ferry and drove us to our accommodation, which is also where he lives. What\u2019s super cool about our rental is that the host throws in a car to use while we\u2019re on the island. Very smart!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our car turned out to be a weathered Toyota Raum that was apparently pretty popular in NZ. It\u2019s a five-seater MPV or <\/mark>miniature <\/mark>mini-van <\/mark>with sliding side doors and a swing door hatch. It first appeared in Japan in May 1997 and this car was probably pushing 15 to 20 years, maybe more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mitch at the junction
of Miami Ave & Mitchell Rd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The passenger side<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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While we were on the ferry over, Jamie texted us to say the power had been cut at the house, but it wouldn\u2019t affect him picking us up. He assured us it would be restored by 6 p.m. We didn\u2019t fret too much about it and settled in to our lodging, gobsmacked at our view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We hadn\u2019t eaten lunch, so we drove into town to a place that was on my list called Vino Vino<\/a>, overlooking the water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We feasted on grilled mushrooms, a grilled pear and walnut salad and pan fried snapper with lemon risotto. This meal made our highlights list it was so good. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The chef, who is from Argentina, came out to talk with us when our server passed on our compliments about the delicious meal. We may have to go back for her Argentinian cheese puffs, a recipe passed down from her great grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After our late lunch we drove around the island and ended up at Onetangi Beach as the sun was starting to set. Daylight savings ended here a few days ago so our days are getting shorter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We popped into the grocery store to pick up a few things for breakfast and something sweet for dessert (of course). I must comment on the fact that every time we\u2019ve gone grocery shopping in NZ, there are multiple people walking around the store barefoot. I guess it\u2019s the norm here? If my Kiwi friends are reading this can you chime in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We headed back to the house and as we came up the driveway, the house was strangely dark. I totally forgot about the electricity being out. Not much of an issue when we first arrived, it certainly was now. Mitch\u2019s phone was dead and mine was not far off. We scrambled to find a flashlight in the house, but the batteries were drained. There were two candles and no matches. This will be fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mitch found the flashlight we\u2019re traveling with and located another one in the house that had a dim light as the batteries were nearly drained on it. I cursed myself for leaving mine behind in the bag we left in Auckland because I hadn\u2019t used it once on the whole trip. We fumbled our way in the dark to our first aid kit and found our matches to light the candles. Yes, we have some light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We had no water other than what was left in our bottles, so Mitch asked the host who went to fetch some from a low hose in the house that didn\u2019t require the electric pump to be operating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 10:30 p.m. when we went to bed there was still no power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was an interesting start to our North Island tour!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our current location on Waiheke Island<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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April 9 Up early, we went to Bobby Franks one last time for breakfast before we headed to the airport for our flight to Auckland. The Nelson airport is teeny tiny. I like teeny tiny airports because they are no fuss and usually not crowded. An interesting thing happened in the Nelson airport after we … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,7],"tags":[18,17],"class_list":["post-9642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-new-zealand-north-island","tag-auckland","tag-weiheke"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1475-1.jpg?fit=678%2C452&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":245,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/22\/about-to-depart-lax-for-auk\/","url_meta":{"origin":9642,"position":0},"title":"About to depart LAX for AKL","author":"Mitch","date":"22 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"January 22 NZ 5 LAX to Auckland We\u2019re at our gate in LAX after a short flight from Denver. We leave in about an hour for our 13-hour crossing to Auckland. And then another flight to Nelson on the South Island. We packed a little too much of course, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/img_4116-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/img_4116-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/img_4116-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/img_4116-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/img_4116-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":252,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/23\/weve-arrived\/","url_meta":{"origin":9642,"position":1},"title":"We’ve Arrived!","author":"Victoria","date":"23 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The 11 hr 50 min flight from LA to Auckland wasn\u2019t so bad, thanks to: One 5 mg Ambien, An Air NZ Skycouch, One in-flight movie, Half a rom-com, 2 NY Times Crossword Puzzles (Tuesdays only \ud83d\ude2b), 1.5 podcast episodes, And an unhealthy amount of time staring at the flight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_4138-2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C613&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_4138-2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C613&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_4138-2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C613&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_4138-2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C613&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/IMG_4138-2-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C613&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13104,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/22\/ka-kite-ano-ma-te-wa\/","url_meta":{"origin":9642,"position":2},"title":"Ka Kite An\u014d M\u0101 Te W\u0101","author":"Victoria","date":"22 May 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"May 22 That\u2019s M\u0101ori for Goodbye. Ut-Oh! We drove to the airport and the weather seemed fine. Not too windy, but it was raining. We checked in and Air NZ put us on an earlier flight to Auckland just in case. Goodbye Windy Wellington The flight from Wellington was great.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_1227-2-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_1227-2-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_1227-2-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/img_1227-2-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9425,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/08\/deja-nelson\/","url_meta":{"origin":9642,"position":3},"title":"Deja Nelson","author":"Victoria","date":"8 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 8 Nelson, NZ We made a full circle on the South Island, back to the exact city where we started our journey two and a half months ago in Nelson. Tomorrow, we fly to Auckland for six weeks to explore the North Island. We even stayed in the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1478-1.jpg?fit=493%2C622&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9782,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/12\/success-is-not-achieved-alone-but-rather-it-is-achieved-collectively-nz-all-blacks-player\/","url_meta":{"origin":9642,"position":4},"title":"\u201cSuccess Is Not Achieved Alone, But Rather It Is Achieved Collectively\u201d NZ All Blacks Player","author":"Victoria","date":"12 April 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"April 12 More storms = power outages on Waiheke The storm in the South unkindly made its way to the North Island and dumped rain and lashing winds overnight. It sounded like that night in the Milford Sound Lodge with the wind whipping around the apartment and rain pounding the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1235-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1235-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1235-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/myblogary.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/img_1235-1.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":249,"url":"https:\/\/myblogary.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/25\/nelson\/","url_meta":{"origin":9642,"position":5},"title":"Nelson","author":"Victoria","date":"25 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"January 25 After an awesome 10 hour sleep (!) we awoke to our amazing Airbnb hostess, Meredith, arriving at our door with warm, homemade cheese scones and coffee beans. 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