Two Full Days in Auckland

The view towards the city on our hike up to the crater at Mt. Eden.

Scott did a special photo to take in the whole crater.

We stayed 3 nights and really made use of our two full days. Breakfast our first morning was rather special - we were up early and the closest breakfast place open was right next to our hotel. Cooke's is a fabled place and rather ritzy but served a very good breakfast. We then tried to get the 9 AM ferry over to Waiheke Island but it filled up before we got to the end of the huge line. In the afternoon we had reservations for a sail out on the harbor at 3:15 so we wisely went to plan B - Mt Eden. This is one of 48 volcanic domes in the city In 2014 after many years of litigation 14 of them were finally returned to their Maori owners. Mt Eden (Maungawhau) was the site of a Maori Pi, a large settlement built on terraces around the mountain. But the inside of the crater is never entered, being sacred. 

Looking back at the stairs and walkway around part of the crater.

It is now a park as are most of the other volcanic cones. There is a small museum and coffee shop at the parking lot and then you have a steep climb up to the top. Paths and stairs follow the edge of the crater all around and the views are spectacular. 

The sky was an impossible blue!

Someone is always asking if they can take 
your photo - and we usually accept.

And our afternoon adventure sailing out in the harbor was marvelous. Both of us got to take the helm for a good portion of the trip. Although the Courageous wasn't a America's Cup boat, it is of similar size. The Captain was quite charming and we enjoyed talking to the other passengers. Happily there was a lot of wind and we got water over the lee rail quite a bit.  After our experience trying to find a table for dinner the night before, we made reservations at White & Wong - excellent Asian cuisine. So good in fact that we took out a meal for the next night to have in our apartment. We knew it would be a long day out at Waiheke Island. 

I took the first shift at the wheel and brought her
under the bridge.

Captain Scott executed two tacks - turning the
boat into the wind. 

This time we were a half hour early for the ferry and had no problem. We also signed up for the Hop On Hop Off bus that takes you all over the island. We stopped at about half of the 12. Our first stop was Mudbrick Vineyard for a wine tasting. Due to the early timing we shared a wine tasting there. The couple that own it built the property from scratch in 1992. It is now a hotel/restaurants/event resort. The wine was wonderful and the place really spectacular. What a place for wedding - and they do lots of them. 

The entrance to Mudbrick. The day started out
cloudy but soon cleared up.

It was too early in the day for lunch unfortunately.

The road down from Mudbrick and you can see the lovely countryside!

Next was Allpress Olive Groves. The first olives tress were planted there in 1997 and they sell both olive oil (in a number of varieties), olives & olive tapenade, and local boney. We were able to test all of them and they were wonderful! We bought a bottle and a tapenade to bring to Julie & Peter in Australia. Our next stop was "Island Frenchies" Built in a container with outdoor seating it is famous for it's French style sandwiches, pastries, salads and their huge breakfast. 

The tasting at Allpress Olive Grove

Frenchies, a deceptively casual place with 
unusually good food.

After lunch and a walk through the small town of Oneroa, we continued on to a cluster of wineries and one distillery. We only had time for two stops so one more winery was chosen because it was the first one when we climbed the hill - Soho Family Vineyard. It was a very friendly place and the wine was excellent - we bought a bottle. 

The SoHo tasting room

The path up to Soho passed by a small pond.

And last Hexe, the distillery. Scott makes his own gin and was interested in trying theirs's and the whiskeys came with the tasting - all very good.  We added a Marguerita pizza to the order and kept half of it for the next day - breakfast in fact! Then we stayed on the bus until catching the ferry back. It had been a long day so we were happy that dinner was waiting at our apartment.  The next morning we're driving down to Rotorua - but problems lie ahead for us and that will be in my next post!

Hexe Distillery 

Fiji to Auckland, New Zealand

 

The beach at the hotel at sunrise. We're still getting up early in the morning. Happily breakfast begins at 6:30 AM.

We arrived in Fiji in the very early morning but we'd reserved our hotel for the night before so were able to get right into our room and crash for a few hours. Then we had two more nights there. That first day we just explored our hotel area. The Crowne Plaza Fiji is enormous and was just finishing up a huge facelift. We had a choice of 10 different restaurants and bars. The pool was enormous and the beach pristine. Until our last morning it was hot, humid and bright sunshine. We ate, drank, swam and walked around. I finally got that pedicure I needed. 

Our taxi driver Oscar ended up giving us a bit of
a tour. Here's Scott and he getting a morning
kava drink. 

But the next day we ventured into Nadi and walked all over the small town. Fijians are the friendliest people I've ever met. And we met a lot of them. At the hotel and in town, people stop and chat - and they aren't trying to sell you something (which happens in many other countries). Our taxi driver showed us all over the town and got out to bring us into the market to try some kava - a small amount as it numbs your mouth. Otherwise it doesn't taste like much! He explained that tipping isn't usual in Jiji - he just wanted to make sure we had a good time! And he meant it. 

The Hindu Temple downtown at Nadi. Indians were brought in
to work the sugar plantations when the law prohibited native
Fijians from manual labor. Given it's independence from 
England in 1970, it has had a number of coups, peaceful
and otherwise, but starting in 2014 has had a democratically
elected government  

This is a local town for the residents. There were no fast food restaurants (actually very few at all) and most stores were selling the basics - clothing, hardware and cell service. There was a local market selling everything including meat & veggies and another market selling handicrafts. We picked up a number of gifts for our family there. The lunch place Oscar, our driver, recommended was Chinese and very good. But the heat really got to us and after a few hours, we were exhausted. Nadi is the sunny dry end of the main island and Suva at the other end, the capitol and biggest city - but gets much more rain. There are 330 islands in all with 110 having permeant populations.

The staff at our last night sang a farewell song
to us!

Our last night we ate at the Italian restaurant at the resort and it was excellent. Again, we chatted with several of the staff and at the end of dinner, all of them sang to us a farewell song. They are very accomplished singers and it was beautiful. 

What a difference the next morning. We were pretty damp by the time we got into the reception area but of course it's still warm so you dry off quickly. It was another early morning, we got the 6 AM shuttle - it was sad to miss our breakfast there that morning! But the airport wasn't crowded and it we were through to our gate in plenty of time to eat breakfast and relax. 

The flight was easy and entrance into New Zealand fairly quick, as long as you had nothing to declare. We had arranged for a pick up at the airport and she was waiting outside customs. What a beautiful city and perfect weather. Highs of around 70 and bright blue skies. Our Airbnb apartment was just a block and a half from the Ferry Terminal on the harbor and right in the middle of every famous designer's store on Queens Street. 

The view from the balcony down to Queen Street
and the pedestrian street and park next to it.

And looking down Queen Street to the harbor

It was a small apartment but very well equipped.
The kitchen and bath are behind here but you
can see the bed sticking out on the right. The
balcony held two chairs and a small table.
Very nice and on the 15th floor so great views.

After settling in we walked down to the harbor and around the marina admiring the amazing variety of boats. One of the America's Cup boats was available for a trip but not during our days there, so we booked a hour and a half trip out on a similar one for the next day. Then the search for a table overlooking the water began and lasted for a while. Finally a very nice hostess took pity on us and got us a table! Mexican food but quite good and remarkably cheap. The dollar buys almost 2 New Zealand dollars! 

More on our stay in Auckland in my next post (we are now in Rotorua, about 3 hours south).

Our finally won table for dinner our first night in Auckland.

And the section of the marina just outside our restaurant. 

Florida to Fiji

 

We visited our first Bucky's in South Carolina
on our way north. You start seeing signs for the
next Bucky's hundreds of miles before you 
reach them!

We leapt from Florida to Fiji in just over a week! On the 22nd we left our Santa Rosa RV Resort and drove north - one night in Madison, GA and the next day we were with our old friends Walt & Honoree in Carthage, NC.  After two lovely nights with them, they drove us up to Raleigh for one night at the La Quinta Hotel. We got on the first shuttle in the morning at 4:30 AM! 

Dinner out one night at a fabulous restaurant with
Honoree & Walt. Baby is in their care until our
return in May. 

This was  the start of our challenging time changes and varying bedtime hours. The four nights with Zoë, George and Tommy gave us time to unwind and relax. We always enjoy a lot of easy walks around Palo Alto and one day enjoyed a Whale Watch out of Santa Cruz. We saw 3 whales, one strange Ocean Sunfish and an adorable sea otter - and of course, lots of birds. 

Scott and Zoë on our whale watch trip.

The very strange Ocean Sunfish!

Tommy, George and Zoë

A few days before our flight to Fiji on Fiji Airlines we received an offer to bid on an upgrade to Business Class. We bid the minimum - still a lot of money but the idea we might get some sleep on the 10 hour overnight flight was too tempting. And we got it. It was worth it. It was strange and kind of sad to not take advantage of all the free food and drink, but we knew it would affect our sleep so we abstained. It was particularly hard in the Air France lounge before our flight! We could have had a gourmet dinner with wine pairings but it was already late at night. The seats did recline to almost flat but it wasn't the separate cubicles that they sometimes have. No complaints though and we really enjoyed the breakfast the next morning!

Entry into Fiji was quick and our hotel, Crowne Plaza Nadi wasn't far away. We were checked in and shown to our beautiful room at 5 AM! We crossed the international date line on the flight so it was a full day later. It was great to catch a few more hours of sleep. And the huge buffet breakfast that morning welcomed us. Actually before we went down I heard this beautiful singing outside. The wait staff at the restaurant sing for any special occasion and they are very good. It sounds like a trained chorus. They sounded like hymns to me, all in Fijian, But more on our time in Fiji in my next post.

The view from our balcony.

Our first breakfast - it was hot and humid with clear skies for our stay until the last morning
when it rained. 

We enjoyed our first cocktails on the beach at sunset.

At 6:30 each evening there is a torch lighting along the beach.

The sunsets were beautiful.

Time's Up in Florida!

The view from our window at night!

Our aerobics class was held one day this week due to the cold temperature - cold by Florida standards at least. It was 53 - but sunny. 

Today is our last day here at Santa Rosa RV Resort and we're sad to leave. We have already reserved (and paid for in advance) the month of February for next year. This last week we've done aerobics in the water and out (necessary as the temperatures went down below 55 degrees for two days), played cards, BINGO, and ate donuts. We have lots of last minute errands and jobs to do before our early start tomorrow. 

Baby tucked into her site at Santa Rosa right on the beach and next to the heated pool and clubhouse.

We're heading north quickly for two days: Saturday it's 6 Google hours to Madison, GA and then Sunday about the same up to our friends Walt & Honorees' in Carthage, NC.  On Tuesday they are driving us up to a hotel near the airport in Raleigh and the next morning, very early, we fly out to San Francisco to visit our daughter Zoë and family. After 4 nights there we fly to Fiji on Sunday. It still seems a bit unreal to me! 

We're playing "Pass the Ace" at the Clubhouse. It's totally easy and leaves plenty of time for laughter!

The rule book for "How to Screw Your
Neighbor" also known as "Pass the
Ace" we play here once a week.

FUN in the Sun!

We do Water Aerobics twice a week. There were so many people this day that Kerri, our amazing Activities Director gave two sessions after that. It's a full hour and a real workout - but lots of fun.

We're two weeks into our 3 weeks here at the Santa Rosa RV Resort and it's going all too fast! It's hard to believe that in just over two weeks we'll be in Fiji. Now if we could only keep up this exercise routine after we leave here. It's hard to do on our own and having the pool makes a big difference to me. The water aerobics class and doing laps is my favorite form of exercise. I walk a half mile to a mile in the morning but the group does 2 - 3 miles. They are really too fast for me. And I used to be thought a fast walker! But I'm a lot older than the others - and Scott has a much larger lung capacity.  We also have two exercise classes a week - weights and stretching. I hope that we'll have those activates available on our 33 day cruise back from Australia.

And wore them for the picture taking
session after the Valentine's Day
Brunch!

We decorated Valentine t-shirts at
one craft session.

Kerri decorated the palm trees near the pool 
and everyone got their photos taken - people
and dogs. 

We're also enjoying the games and crafts. We play BINGO once a week and a card game called Pass the Aces another night. It's mostly a social occasion. As are the craft classes. We made Valentine t-shirts one day and I made a felted soap another (see photos here and at the bottom). Next week we're making Carnival t-shirts and decorated towels. Living in the small trailer, it's nice to have things to do in the evening. And when we stay in, there is good cable service so we can occasionally watch a movie. Recent ones: Hunt for Red October, Waitress the Musical, Mansfield Park and North by Northwest.  And there are Pancake & Sausage Breakfasts, Donuts & Coffee, Ice Cream Socials and a few days ago Super Bowl Night.  The pot luck food at the Super Bowl and the Valentine Brunch was amazing - there are a lot of excellent cooks here!

Watching the Super Bowl - there were 3
huge TVs set up - two outdoors.

The Chiefs Cheerleading Team

And the Eagles one!

We're also in a beautiful area, close to the National Seashore and limitless beaches. We've been up to Pensacola several times to explore and eat. One night we saw Riverdance at the theater - wonderful! And last Saturday we went to Joe Patti's where the boats bring in tons of fresh fish and seafood - a huge selection. It's packed with people and staff. But there is no place to sit down and eat - everything is take out or retail. We bought flounder, catfish, shrimp, scallops and soft shell crabs. Then we went out to a great lunch overlooking the water at Nick's close by. 

Riverdance in Pensacola

And this is only half of the seafood line up!

Staff lined up to serve at Joe Patti's

We have already booked the month of February for next year - right in in our favorite spot, on the beach and next to the pool

The group photo from the Soap Felting Class - lots of kidding around but we also got the project done!

A few of the towels from that class.

And the "felted soaps"

Just one of the tables at the Valentine's 
Brunch.

The sunset from in the beach in front of our RV site!