my dolmades lunch

Casita Miro view

Sylvie and her spanish hot chocolate

Sunday 5^th Feb. Went to a market which we had seen advertised. It wasn’t great as there weren’t many stalls and the majority were selling food. However the atmosphere was nice and Sylvie got her portrait done. There are loads of vineyards on Waiheke and for lunch we went to Casita Miro vineyard which had recently won numerous awards. The food was out of this world. I had lamb dolmades which came with a yoghurt dipping sauce. Mirabai and I shared a desert called chocolate salami which was basically like chocolate tiffin but had pistachio nuts in and came with jam and strawberries. The restaurant looked out on the vineyards and the sea. We then went to the beach again but were still cold but we played cricket and I got some shells. In the evening we had a nice home cooked meal and a chilled night. 

at the pizza restaurant

little Oneroa beach

beach by restaurant

beach by restaurant

Saturday 4th Feb. Toby arrived in the morning after coming over on the ferry. We all went into Oneroa where Mirabai, Sylvie and I went around the shops while Toby and Tanya had a coffee. Lots of artists live on waiheke so I was interested to look in their shops. I brought some postcards as souvenirs and a Waiheke Island thimble for Will who collects thimbles from places abroad. Sylvie and I then got ice cream before returning home. Tanya stayed home while we went to the beach. Again it was very cold but I was able to read a bit of The Hobbit as I had read the first hunger games book. On return, we found a dog called Rudy on our drive. He stayed to play with Snowy for a while until his owners came to collect him it turned out he lived next door! Tanya told us about a music festival she had read about which was supposed to be happening on the Island. We decided to go and see if it was any good but found it had been cancelled because of the council although there were still djs. We ended up having pizza at this place which was right next to the beach.

my room

the stairs - the lights turn on as you walk past!

snowy on the veranda

restaurant view of big oneroa beach

us at the restaurant 

Friday 3rd Feb. Got a taxi to Tanya's school with Sylvie and Snowy. We then went to pick up Mirabai on our way to the ferry to Waiheke Island where we will be staying this weekend. We got on the ferry after eventually navigating our way to Half Moon Bay. The ferry ride took about 45 minutes. We then got to Waiheke and went to our 'batch' or holiday home in Oneroa. The holiday home was so nice and I even got my own room with a double bed. We were all quite hungry so decided to go for dinner at a place called the Red Crab which is a thai restaurant. The restaurant over looked the beach and the food was superb but very filling, I ended up taking mine back for lunch the next day. We then rented out the new Footlose from a movie shop for the evening and got some chocolate too.

bathing Snowy

Titirangi bush

wild flowers

Wednesday 1st Feb. Day with Sylvie today as everyone was out. Toby has gone off to Wellington filming for a few days and Tanya was back at work. We watched glee and had a late breakfast and then decided to get on with the task of bathing Snowy. He was very sweet and shrunk to half his size because of his huge fur. Unlike Ben he didn't growl and he even like Sylvie wipe away the mess from his runny eyes. After lunch I decided to go on a walk and took Snowy with me. However constipated Snowy had other ideas and kept sitting down because of his poohy bum so I took him back as I wasn't getting anywhere and went out alone. I came back to find Snowy had a very messy bum so we ended up having to clean him again! I was very pleased to have finished my book today and have started to read a series of books recommended by the family called the Hunger Games.

Davies bay

entrance to davies bay

Tuesday 31st Jan. Walked down to Davies bay beach in reasonable sunshine. The weather has been ok but not as hot as you'd expect. Apparently its their worst summer in like 5 years due to the El Nino cycle. But anyway davies bay was so pretty and when I arrived there were only two small children playing on the beach. I had my packed lunch there and just sat and read for about 2 hours. It was so relaxing and when I eventually turned around I realised how far the tide had come in. It also started to drizzle with rain so I decided to leave before it got worse. The walk there had been very downhill so the walk back was a bit of a struggle. I decided to walk up a quiet hill backwards as it is easier only to be spotted by a resident who was looking at me suspiciously and remarked that it was a very steep hill! My steep walk had left me with a craving for cake so Mirabai and I went to the bakery and indulged in some goodies.

Monday 30th Jan. Picked up Sylvie's friend Grace and went to Cheltenham beach which is Tanya's favourite beach. It was very pretty and looks out on Rangitoto Island which Tanya said looks the same from every angle it is viewed from. However the weather wasn't great and we all felt the cold so we literally had lunch, got ice creams and then left! On the way back Tanya showed me how to get to local beaches which I am definitely going to try.

Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th Jan. Saturday - Boarded my flight at Sydney airport after denying Jonathan and Maddie breakfast for fear of being late! The flight was only 2hrs 30 so felt really short considering the last flight was 23. Rob had asked me to take a piece of cake for Tanya that Tanya had brought them for Christmas and I was relieved to get it through customs! Was met by Toby, Tanya, Sylvie and Mirabai and headed to the car where Toby and Sylvie pulled out party poppers. On arrival at their house in Titirangi, Auckland I met Snowy their gorgeous six moth old Maltese and had some time to unpack my things.We went out for dinner in the evening and I had some lovely thai style muscles.

my room

Snowy

view from the house

Sunday - Went to Titirangi market in the morning which was really nice. Very hippy with lots of bright multi-coloured clothing and hairy men. Mirabai and I got a choritzo sausage bun to share which was delicious with some fresh orange juice. I then brought a bookmark made of Paua which is a New Zealand shell. I spotted lots of lovely things but held off buying too much because of my already heavy suitcase. We then came back and Mirabai made a lovely lunch, after which we settled down to watch Merlin. Followed by a sunday roast made by Toby.