Auckland and Waiheke Island

We had a great weekend in Auckland checking out the sites and buying a car! We ended up buying another RAV 4 since we loved ours back home so much. No sunroof or leather here though, and more expensive! Oh well, my new saying is "YOLO in New Zealand!" I say that to Tyler every time he questions my spending habits :)

We didn't see too much of Auckland, mainly just the downtown area. It was nice and has a big harbour, but I think Vancouver is nicer. I think the draw of Auckland is its surroundings and everything there is to do nearby. If we go back there are definitely things I would like to do and see outside of the city.

The Sky Tower, where you can "free fall" from the top. We weren't interested, so we tried our luck at the casino inside instead!

A nice side street with cute cafes.

The main harbour where cruise ships and ferries dock.

After we figured out there was lots to do and see by boat, on Sunday we took a 45 minute ferry over to one of the more popular islands, Waiheke. There are around 50 islands in the Auckland area. All I can say is wow, I'm so glad we decided to spend the day on Waiheke. It was gorgeous and we even found ourselves on a wine tour! There are 15 or so wineries on the island and the three we toured were gorgeous. The wine was expensive if you wanted to buy a bottle as they are all boutique wineries and don't ship their wine outside of the Auckland area. So we got our fill at the wine tastings instead :)

On the ferry to Waiheke Island, with downtown Auckland in the background. 

The small harbour at Waiheke.

We found ourselves with a few hours to kill before the wine tour started so we followed the signs to a hiking trail. It was supposed to be a one hour coastal loop, but then of course we got lost and it was more like 2 hours and definitely not a loop! Good thing the views were stunning as we didn't seem to mind at all. And we figured we needed the exercise in advance of all the wine we were going to soon be drinking!

Swing on the beach!

Auckland waaaay in the background. 

We finally made it back to catch the wine tour bus albeit a bit sweaty and in our shorts and running shoes. Of course the first people we see are wearing their Sunday best and looked at us like we were in the wrong place. All I could think was, "good luck walking in those heels after your 4th glass of wine!" The first winery pictured below was by far our favourite. We were planning to eat dinner there after the tour was over but it was unfortunately booked for a wedding. Even the Chardonnay was delicious, and I thought I hated Chardonnay! All in all it was a fantastic day and we hope to go back soon, maybe with one of our visitors?! ;)

I love this tree!