Waiheke Island

Oh, My God!

I must've said this a million times on this trip, so I'm going to call this, "The Oh My God" trip.  We went to an island by ferry called Waiheke and went for a hike.  We got a little lost and ended up taking a path that was a little more challenging than we had hoped.  I said "Larry, do you know where the hell we are?"  And Larry, said Beth, do you know where the hell we are?  Anyways, we came to a compromise after a few arguments and ended up taking the most beautiful hike I have ever been on.  Some people love mountains, some love lakes and rivers and some love oceans and seas.  Today I was treated to my favourite which is oceans but by hiking up and down small mountains, I had the most spectacular views with everything combined.  I have mentioned before that every place I have been to has a special fragrance to it.  Here , it is heavenly.  The flora is very different.  The salty air and warm sunshine are a part.  We were near vineyards and olive trees, so that must've contributed to the smell.    We were at the most westerly end of the island right along the coast.  We could see the ferry but were a long ways away.  As we were walking there were a few really nice romantic spots under these big beautiful trees with the beach right underneath.  We noticed 1 or 2 couples taking advantage of these spots.  OH, TO BE YOUNG AGAIN.  This must be one of the most beautiful romantic places for a couple to enjoy and make plans. SIGH!

Larry here, we were on the bus today, beside us was a couple from France, I started speaking to, them in French and lo and behold, the guy in front of us is from Montreal, met three more young women from France in the village, lots of students over here on work Visas, plus while walking the streets it's not uncommon to hear French being spoken by tourists.  I've included a couple of pics of the bridge of the high speed cat ferry.  It looks like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.  Twenty seven knots.  On the way back to the apartment we saw a line up at sushi place, everything goes on sale for half price at 6:30, so guess what's for dinner.

We can't say enough about these efficiency apartments or hotels in Australia and New Zealand.   We have saved a bundle on food by eating in while we are here and going out for an occasional dinner.  Anyways, we both said we get sick of rich and expensive food and we don't enjoy it.  On the ship the food was 5 star and portions were small, but even then we got tired of it.  Also, we have this washing machine we call Mabel.  She washes and dries but takes forever and as I think I wrote before sounds like a jet taking off.  But at least We have clean clothes without it costing anything.

Resting today and doing some shopping.  Tomorrow we will go on another jaunt.  There are a ton of islands here and much to see.  We will go to a bird sanctuary and tramp around there for the day.  We are certainly getting our exercise.

Love to all.    Beth and Larry.        Oh, no!  5 weeks to go.