Auckland, New Zealand

I am writing now with the most gorgeous view. Lavender bordering the sea, blue sky with specks of white clouds, greeneries wherever I look. It’s always good to be home, Aotearoa.

Day one – 26/11/2016, Auckland

My best friend of 14 years just produced an offspring. It seemed only yesterday we were downing tequilas, dressed as little as possible and danced the night away. She decided she had enough of the shenanigans; so after the “I do’s” 3 years ago; baby C came along to join our crew.

The flight from Sydney to Auckland was around 3 hours. But due to 2 hours’ time difference, we arrived in Auckland late afternoon.

Kia Ora adopted homeland

Lunch: Try It Out Restaurant, Otahuhu, Vietnamese $$

Dinner: Niko Pizza, Takapuna, Italian/Greek $$$

Both are 3/5 Pretty tasty, though on the expensive side of the spectrum for what they are.

Day two – 27/11/2016, Auckland

After our coffee fix, we went to Takapuna market. Every Sunday, there’s a morning market held in the carpark next to Burger King. It’s a combination of second hand and fresh food market, and it was really crowded. But, by the time we finished our lunch; they’ve managed to pack everything away!

We went to Countdown (supermarket) afterward. Our trolleys filled with; Me: booze. BFF: vegies and sensible things. In New Zealand, one had to show either their NZ license or their passport as the proof of age. Any other forms of IDs are deemed insufficient evidence that you are over 25 years old. And, if one person in the party can’t prove his/her age; NO ONE can get the alcohol.

So, we needed to go back home, grabbed our passports and ventured back to the supermarket. This time, we brought some steaks as well for dinner. I figure, I would need to eat too.

Bloke v Baby

Lunch: Burger Burger, Takapuna. Burger. 3/5 good burger place. Pretty standard pricing if you don’t add on anything else. But since we added ‘cheese, eggs & bacon’ plus some booze, the price skyrocketed. $$$

Day three – 28/11/2016, Waiheke Island

So not too suffocate my dear friend, we decided to spend some time away in Waiheke island. After a quick browse, we booked a studio apartment nearby the town centre: Oneroa, and managed to book last minute half day Waiheke wine tour through Groupon. I love a great bargain!

After lunch at Devonport, we caught the 1.10 pm ferry where upon arrival we were greeted by a very lovely friendly lady called Julie. We visited 3 wineries: Kennedy Points, Passage Rock and Bach winery. She also took us to 2 lookouts: Oneroa and Onetangi beach.

One of the many beaches in the island

I highly recommended the tour, only:

• If it is brought through Groupon, or
• Using the voucher code “Waiheke” to get 50% off the retail price, or
• If you are a single traveler.

Otherwise, I recommend getting a car and drive around to the wineries as the retail price is quite expensive ($149) per person.

Passage Rock

In saying that, the advantage of the tour is the transport. Both of us could drink without had to worry about driving. Second, we got a proper tour around the wineries and thorough introduction about the wines they produced. My personal favourite is Passage Rock (for the wine). We had quite a bit of tasting here that I forgot my sunglasses.

Julie kindly dropped us off at our accommodation: Watermark Studio Apartment. It is a beautifully decorated studio, with gorgeous view as described at the beginning of this entry. It is a 10 minutes’ walk to Oneroa town centre and beach. We went out to have dinner where I forgot my wallet, lucky Fabs has his!

Amazing backdrop

Lunch: Manuka, Café, Devonport. 4/5 Great food and big serving. Yummy coffee too. $$

Dinner: Vino Vino, Bistro, Waiheke. 3.5/5 Delicious garlic bread and fresh seafood. Oysters were amazing and my scallops main were on the point $$$$

Day four – 29/11/2016, Waiheke Island

BFF, hubby and baby C came to Island today. As I was hangry, we went to a café on the way down to ferry terminal and grabbed takeaway coffees and a croissant. Once we met them, we headed to rental cars kiosks; however, we were directed to their office about 5 minutes’ walk from the terminal. We had this battered looking car and started our day with brunch! Another day of constant eating and drinking.

First stop: Passage Rock, to pick up my sunglasses. We continued on to loop the island through gravel road and stopped at Man O’ War winery. It is a beautiful winery facing the bay. 

Rolled around at Man O' War

Second stop was Te Motu winery, where we did archery. My first round of shots was impressive, but it was a fluke. I fell from grace immediately, scoring next to nothing. 

Action shot

We headed to Cable Bay vineyard next, where we had (more) food. The restaurant overlooked rolling hills and the sea. After we dropped off BFF & co at ferry terminal back to Auckland, we continued on to Mud Brick winery. It has similar view to Cable Bay, though it has a more manicured garden and lovely looking cottages. 

Mud Brick

Breakfast: Fenice, café. 4/5 my coffee was delicious and the croissant was massive! $

Brunch: Wai Kitchen, café 3.5/5 another yum of caffeine in my system. We ordered the sambal prawn omellete. It was different but it works! $$

Snack: Te Motu, vineyard 2.5/5 the pizza tasted like it came out of the freezer aisle. $$

Lunch: Cable Bay, vineyard 3.5/5 food was good, didn’t blow me off my mind though.

Dinner: Oyster Inn, Bistro 3/5 oysters were amazing and fresh; farmed locally on the south east of the island at Te Matuku. Apparently, they have a shop next to the island Countdown. My fish and chips were spot on, Fabs's pasta was overcooked and close to tasteless. $$$$

Day five – 30/11/2016, Auckland

Back to the mainland. I conducted a reminiscence tour for Fabs, from Viaduct to Wynyard Quarter then up we went to Sky Tower Observatory. We did the obligatory visit to my favourite watering hole, Occidental; and straight to my university. Followed by lunch at Britomart area then we went back to BFF’s.

Auckland view from Sky Tower observatory deck 

As strong as concrete they said!

For dinner, we went to Ponsonby to catch up with my uni friend and her family. This is an upmarket area, bursting with ‘hip’ cafes and expensive restaurants.

Breakfast: Beach Club café, Waiheke 3.5/5 delicious breakfast; coffee not so much $

Lunch: Mexico, Mexican, Auckland 3/5 They made killer fried chicken and mojitos, quirky fit out and relax atmosphere. Other food that we ordered are on the average side though $$

Dinner: Le Vietnamese, Fusion Vietnamese, Ponsonby 4/5 food was really good, soft velvety spring roll and delicious curry. FREE, as my friend insisted to pay and we had no idea how much the bill was.

Day six – 1/12/2016, Auckland

Long time ago, I did my first horse riding at Muriwai beach. It was so memorable to me and made me fell in love with horses. So, we went for a drive there after baby C swimming lesson. Muriwai is about 40 minutes’ drive; though we went further, all the way to Helensville to find… nothing. Least we went to Key's electorate before he resigned! So, we did a U turn and headed to Muriwai beach to have lunch.

Gorgeous day for a horse ride

The horse park is located near the golf course. We went through the beach, marsh land and the forest. It was enjoyable, but it wasn’t as great as how I had it in my head! Nevertheless, it was good fun.

Lunch - Sand Dunz Beach Café, Muriwai Beach 3/5 standard café food. My suggestion is to take away the food and have it by the beach or the café’s outside seatings; the prices are significantly lower compared to having it in the restaurant $$

Day seven – 2/12/2016, Auckland

Nothing scream louder than the outdoor when one thinks of New Zealand. Hence, we woke up at 8 am to catch a ferry to Rangitoto island at 9.15 am from Devonport. Rangitoto Island is a volcanic island formed by a series of eruptions, with the most recent eruptions occurred between 550 and 600 years ago. There are several hikes routes around the island and the connected neighbouring island of Motutapu.  I doubt you can go around the island in one day. But, if you’re feeling extremely adventurous (and super fit), you can try by running it the whole way through.

Keep on walking... keep on walking

It was advised not to camp in Rangitoto, however, there is the option to stay at the Department of Conservation (DoC) managed campsite at Home Bay. For more info, see: http://www.backpackerguide.nz/guide-rangitoto-island-motutapu-island/

We took the map of the island at the ferry terminal, and we set for our day hike. The ferry ride was about 25 minutes; we took the summit walk route with a small detour to the lava cave. Then we went back down through Mackenzie lighthouse where we had our supermarket bought sandwiches with the classic: Bluebird chips. Fabs had a quick dip; he said the water felt ‘fresh’. We made the 2.30 pm ferry back to Auckland city, where we takeaway Nando’s for dinner. Fitbit told me the whole walk is about 20k steps or 16 km.

Dinner – Nando’s, chicken shop, Auckland. 3/5 always reliable grilled chicken!

Day eight – 3/12/2016, Auckland

I woke up seeing 2 additional kids in the house. BFF’s friend (they exist, though I vehemently deny their existence. Her only friend should only just be ME) dropped their kids for the morning. We spent the morning playing and making Christmas garlands. It was all so exhausting, so right after lunch we took a nap.

In training

Actually, the nap was necessary as we were going to watch BFF’s favourite band, Coldplay. We dropped baby C at the friend’s house, inhaled glasses of wines in seconds and run around amok. I enjoyed the concert so much, I think I said the “L” word to her so many times. She freaked out. We even went to McDonald afterwards!

Below is the snippet of how AMAZING the concert was - pardon the quality

Lunch: Chef Rasa Sayang, Malaysian, Birkenhead $ 3.5/5 good delicious food. We bought so much food that we had it for lunch AND dinner. And BFF had the leftover for dinner the next day!

Day nine – 4/12/2016

Time for us to go back to Sydney and face the harsh reality of life. Work. After lunch, BFF dropped us off in the airport and we said our “see yous”. It has been such a good holiday, thoroughly enjoyed it and super relaxing!

Lunch: Bali Star, Atrium foodcourt, Indonesian $ 3/5 can’t go wrong with fried chicken!

Ps : One thing I learned from this trip is to always have cash. Most cheap eateries don’t accept credit cards nor international debit card. Cash is king.

Pss: 
$ = $10 - $20 pp

$$ = $20 - $40+ pp

$$$ = $40 - $60 pp

$$$$ = $60 - $80 pp

$$$$$ = $80++ pp