Day 2: Waiheke

Day 2 was a picture-perfect day on the island of Waiheke; a part of Auckland that is a 40 minute ferry ride from the city center. We had a tour which focused on the history and culture of New Zealand. We learned about the Maori people who were the original people of New Zealand and who still compromise 20% of the current population. This beautiful island has since grown into a wine making and olive grove farming community. It is hard to describe the beauty of all of the vistas we were able to see. Hopefully, the photos will help to display a fraction of the stunning scenery.

We visited Mudbrick vineyards for some wine tasting. Both the wine and the views were amazing, and we purchased a wine to bring to Doris and Martin's house for dinner. We witnessed a helicopter land a few yards away from where we were standing to drop off visitors who were dining at the vineyard. Our tour guide, Dell was enthusiastic and very informative.

The tour was topped off with a swim at the gorgeous Oneora beach! The beach had beautiful white sand and super clear refreshing water with surprisingly hardly anybody there.

We finished our day with a delicious dinner at Doris and Martin's home where we thoroughly enjoyed several wines from Waiheke and lots of great conversation. We are quite shocked at how well we have been adjusting to the time change so far. We will see if this trend continues. Fingers crossed! Day 2 was a huge success!!