First steps in New Zealand : Waiheke Island and Auckland

After a last day in Santiago, we fly to Auckland. Our flight leaves at midnight and will last over 12  hours. And the seats in the airplane are a LOT less comfortable than any bus seats in South America… so we won’t sleep very much.

We arrive in Auckland at 4:30 am. We pass customs pretty fast. Even if we have to take out and unfold the tent, so they can check if we aren’t bringing in any bugs or bacteria. Indeed, New Zealand is very strict about preserving its environment. Because it is an island, introducing foreign bugs or bacteria can be very dangerous for the bio diversity, so they are very strict on what enters their country.

Once we went through customs it is still only 5 am, and we don’t know what to do. It is too early to go in the city because everything will be closed, so we decide to grab a coffee at the airport, trying not to fall asleep.

We finally decide to leave the airport at 6:30 am, and take a bus to downtown Auckland. After 40 minutes, we get dropped off in the city center and walk to the ferry terminal, where we will catch a boat to Waiheke Island, where Flora lives (Maider’s friend).

The boat ride lasts also about 40 minutes, and Maider sleeps the whole way!

Around 8:15 am we set foot on the island. According to the travel guides, this island is a must see around Auckland because of its beautiful landscapes, idyllic beaches, small charm-full towns, renowned wineries and rich wilderness. We are excited to visit the island, but before that, we go to Flora’s place, located in the little village of Onetangi, some 10 km from the ferry terminal.

Maider and Flora haven’t seen each other for over 3 years, so Maider is super excited to meet up with her friend, on the other side of the world.

Flora lives in a cute house with her boyfriend Nico, who comes from Argentina, as well as 4 other roommates, 2 from Argentina, 1 from Italy and 1 from Uruguay. We soon learn that the island is filled with Argentinians, so I guess we aren’t over with Spanish quite yet… Just a few days ago we were thinking about how we already missed Argentina, and here we are on an island filled with Argentinians! Pretty funny and totally unexpected. Apparently a lot of Argentinians come to New Zealand to work and make some money, and there is a pretty strong community on Waiheke Island.

After catching up and having settled down at Flora’s, we have to admit we dream of taking a shower. After a couple of days without showering, and traveling for some 20+ hours, we feel dirty and boy do we stink! But the problem is that there is a water shortage on the island. Especially during summer where it doesn’t rain a single drop during 3 months. People have a big tank outside that collects rain water, and that is the water they use during summer. So once the tank is empty, there is no more water. There are companies that deliver water but it is pretty expensive and people book very early in advance. So much so that last year Flora spent a month without water!

So this means we aren’t allowed to take a shower at her place, but she tells us that there is a sports center nearby where we can take a shower for free. The sports center is a 5 minute drive away from her house. The perfect occasion for Matt to drive on the left side for the first time! Some training before picking up the van is very welcomed. It is very very very weird driving on the other side of the road, but we get to the showers safely. Flora takes advantage to come with us and take a shower longer than 90 seconds, which is the maximum time allowed at her place.

Flora being off today, we spend the day together with her roommates. We go to eat at the sustainable center, where every Friday, some volunteers cook a meal with free leftovers donated by the local supermarkets. The goal is to avoid waste, awesome idea! We get to meet people and eat for free if we do the dishes.

We have a great weather for our first day on the island, and go spend the afternoon at the beach with plenty of Argentinians. Matt who thought he would finally be able to speak in English, guess he will have to wait a couple days…

The hours pass and we really start to struggle because of the jet-lag. We go back home and have a BBQ with Flora and Nico before going to sleep.

When we wake up we notice we were completely bitten by mosquitoes all night. Matt’s left eye is swollen because of a sting, and his arms itch. Nice way to welcome us to the country!

For our second day Flora is working, so we go discover the island just the both of us. We plan on doing a hike that starts by the ferry terminal. We try to hitchhike there, since Flora told us that hitchhiking works really well on the island. And indeed, we get picked up by a super nice English women, who lived all around the world teaching English.

We start a 2 hour hike that will take us along the coast, in the forest and through some vineyards.

Unfortunately the weather is a little cloudy, but the walk is really enjoyable. We stop at a few different view points that are very pretty.

We went through beaches.

And walked along cliffs.

And during the hike we can see beautiful plants and flowers, and we even cross paths with a few unknown birds.

We end up in the middle of the vineyards.

We can really enjoy a lot of different landscapes during this hike. We end on the island’s main beach, the Oneroa beach.

After that we go to the village, also called Oneroa. It is a cute little town with plenty of independent shops and restaurants with a view on the ocean.

We stop in one of them for a juicy burger.

We can’t visit the island without stopping at one of the many wineries. Indeed, Waiheke is also called the “Island of Wine”, since there are many wineries, thanks to the hot and dry weather on the island in summer time. We choose to go to the Mudbrick winery. Known for being the prettiest one. On the way we get to visit another side of the island, and again the landscape is beautiful.

The sun even decides to come out and it is getting hot.

Before getting to Mudbrick we walk by several vineyards and wineries, including one very well known in the region : Cable Bay winery.

We can even see the people enjoying some wine on the lawn.

As we get to Mudbrick we are stunned. The view is incredible. The vineyard is very beautiful. And it benefits from a gorgeous view on the Hauraki gulf, and the city of Auckland in the background.

We sit on the patio and have a tasting of 4 different wines each. 3 whites and 1 rosé for Maider, 1 white and 3 reds for Matt. And the white wines were absolutely delicious. Their Pinot Gris and Sauvignon Blanc were to die for!

We stayed a while on the patio, in the sun, enjoying the magnificent views.

Hard not to fall asleep… because of the time difference it is getting very late in Chile!

We head back to Flora’s late afternoon, stopping by a nice point of view on the way, on the Onetangi beach. The beach is huge, probably the biggest one of the island. On one side we have a view of the beach with a dark and menacing sky, on the other side a nice blue sky! Gorgeous!

The weather changes very fast and it will rain all evening long. We don’t feel like doing much and are really tired. So we will spend the evening all three of us with Flora, while her Argentinian roommates go celebrate Halloween, with the entire Argentinian community of the island.

The second night happens to be a little more difficult than the first one. The jet-lag somehow feels stronger. AND we got attacked by mosquitoes all night long !

The next morning the weather isn’t great so we won’t do much all day. Flora makes some pancakes for breakfast for everyone, we then take the scooter to go to the sports club for a shower and finally simply hang out around the house and get some rest. We tell ourselves that it is a great thing to have these few days of rest before picking up the van and starting our road trip, this way we can safely get used to the time difference.

Late afternoon we finally decide to go for a short walk near Onetangi. The colors of the sun on the vineyards are amazing.

As well as on the ocean.

We stop by a few view points above the ocean that are beautiful.

Then we walk down to the beach, where the colors of the sunset are even more beautiful.

And we take the time to take a few pictures together, who knows next time we will see each other!

Tonight we help Flora to cook dinner for almost all the roommates. And we have a nice dinner all together, speaking in a mix of Spanish and English.

For our last day we get waken up by very heavy rain, but we prefer that to mosquitoes. All the buckets of the house are taken outside to gather as much water as possible to then be able to cook or flush the toilet!

Later in the morning the sun comes out and the rain stops so we are able to go for a short hike. A nice hike that offers pretty views on the ocean and the surrounding hills.

The grass is very green and we understand why when we see how much it rains in the winter and spring time.

The walk ends on Onetangi beach, where the dark skies afar make for beautiful colors.

We spend one last afternoon with Flora, before hitchhiking back to the ferry terminal to catch a boat to Auckland.

Where we will spend three nights before picking up the van and finally starting our road trip.

This short 4 day stay with Flora was awesome. Maider was super happy to be able to reconnect with her friend after a long time without seeing each other. And we were glad to have been able to spend a few days on the beautiful Waiheke Island.

A couple of days in Auckland

So we have two days in Auckland before starting our road trip.

Auckland is a very modern city, but also has historic ties to the colonial times and of course the maori culture. The city benefits from a unique environment, surrounded by plenty of dormant volcanoes, located right by the Hauraki gulf and not far from plenty of wild islands.

For our first day in Auckland the weather is terrible, it rains all day long. Thankfully we hadn’t planned on doing much, aside from picking up our French driving licenses at the travel agency we used to book our van. It rains non stop so we decide to spend the afternoon in a Starbucks, working on our grocery list for the next few weeks, as well as refine our recipes! We also go to buy dry shampoo for Maider because we don’t know how often we will be able to shower during the next 3 weeks. And more importantly we talked ourselves into buying a new GoPro! Our old one (5 years old at this point) has been acting up for some time. And with over 6 months left we thought it would be a good investment (as you can see we try to justify as we can such a big purchase, it’s always hard to spend so much money without questioning if it’s really worth it…).

For our last day in Auckland we finally have a very nice blue sky!

So we decide to go visit the Rangitoto Island and the Davenport peninsula. To go there, we take the ferry from the Auckland terminal, that takes us to the Rangitoto Island.

During the boat ride we have a nice view on the Auckland downtown, and the Devonport peninsula. The sky is blue without a single cloud !

After 25 minutes we arrive at Rangitoto, the island is wild and nobody lives on it, which means no houses, no restaurants and no shops. The only thing there is a volcano bearing the same name as the island it is on. Rangitoto is actually the last volcano to have been formed in the region around Auckland, only 600 years ago, after its eruption.

We follow a large trail to the top of the volcano. The trail goes through cold lava. Which is pretty impressive.

If we turn around we start to see the city of Auckland from afar. We can already imagine that the view from the top is going to be well worth it.

We arrive at the summit in half an hour, and the view is beautiful. There are platforms built from where we have spectacular views on Auckland and the bay.

We can also see many nearby islands and dormant volcanoes.

A true 360 view. And we are lucky to be able to enjoy the view with a beautiful blue sky.

We are the first ones at the top so we have the place to ourselves.

Our new GoPro takes amazing footage and pictures! Matt is like a kid on Christmas morning with his new toy.

A little bellow, there is another platform that offer a view point on the inside of the crater. Nice !

On the way back we stop by a lava cave. We even have to use the phone’s flash to see where we are going.

Very unique experience. And the landscape is just incredible.

As we walk to the ferry we stop to take some final pictures and admire the views from this beautiful island.

We hop back in the ferry to go to Devonport at 12:45 pm. This time the ride only lasts 15 minutes.

Devonport is a rich little district, located north from Auckland, just across the bay. It looks like a nice little English village. We walk up the main street, Victoria Street, that almost hasn’t changed since the time of Queen Victoria (hence the name of the street). It is home to many historical buildings, as well as small shop, restaurants and cafés.

We stop in a very nice café for lunch, before climbing atop the Mount Victoria.

From the top of the dormant volcano, we have a nice panorama on Auckland and the bay. But also on the surrounding islands, and the historical neighborhood of Auckland with its Victorian houses.

We can also see the Rangitoto Island where we spent the morning.

The ocean is turquoise blue in areas.

Magnificent ! We take plenty of pics.

On the other side we can see the North Head hill where we will go just a little later.

We then walk down to the beautiful Cheltenham beach, and its golden sand. From here there is a very pretty view on the Rangitoto island.

There are magnificent houses all along the beach.

And once again the color of the ocean is stunning.

At the end of the beach, some stairs lead to the North Head hill. Here again the panorama on Auckland and the bay is sublime. We can also see Devonport from here.

After that we walk back down along the beach and see plenty of beautiful old houses.

We leave Devonport late afternoon with a ferry to Auckland that lasts just 10 minutes. We spent an amazing last day in Auckland, and are super happy to have been able to enjoy Auckland and its surroundings under a beautiful weather.

A last night in Auckland before picking up the van the next morning, and start driving to the Coromandel region, in the North East part of the North Island.

Video of our first steps with the Kiwis

The second part of the video is shot with the new GoPro, hopefully you’ll see a change…