There is nothing more welcome and appreciated than arriving from a long-haul flight to a familiar face at the airport, a warm shower, and a beautifully made-up double bed. After a few days of settling in and waiting for the stormy weather to pass, my friends and I packed up our overnight bags and headed off on a maritime adventure.
There is no better way to see Auckland than from the water. Especially if you have access to a yacht as gorgeous as this one!
We set off towards Waiheke Island, stopping in a secluded bay for burgers on the boat in the sunshine, and a walk along the shore.
Waiheke is a beautiful place. A perfect spot for exploring, and it's 24 vineyards make it an extremely popular day trip from Auckland.
We ate dinner at the Oyster Inn, in Oneroa, where I tentatively sampled my first ever oysters.
I'm not sure they're going to be a firm favourite from now on, but they were definitely an interesting new food and I ended up quite liking the 'Bloody Mary' style oysters.
Check out that sunset.
After a surprisingly good night's sleep on the yacht we headed back onshore.
The easiest way to get around Waiheke is to rent a car, however you can take buses to each vineyard if you don't mind waiting around a bit. What was great about having the car was the chance to stop at the various look out points on the way to each vineyard.
After a delicious wine tasting at Man O' War vineyard - who knew red wine could taste so good? - we selected a few favourites and sat out on their deck with a local tasting platter.
Before heading off to the next one.
Each vineyard was charmingly different.
The perfect place to sit and watch the world go by, paired with a few local tipples, of course.
Sailing back to Auckland we passed some gorgeous houses perched high up on the surrounding islands.
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