Waiheke - Part One

Well our summer holiday didn't start quite as we expected, but even so we had a wonderful time away! We had planned to leave on Sunday or Monday to drive up to Auckland and then catch the ferry Monday afternoon to Waiheke Island where we had rented a bach for a week. Unfortunately, on Saturday I managed to hit a giant pothole on the side of the road which caused something in the car to begin to rattle rather annoyingly. Being as this is New Zealand and they tend to emphasize having a good work/life balance, there were no car repair places open on the Sunday. Also, this being summer, a lot of places - including our normal garage - weren't even open on Monday. All that meant we had to change our plans a bit - the girls and I flew to Auckland on the Monday (Jetstar, $49 each, score), and Dugald stayed behind and waited for the car to be fixed. In my defense, I would like to state for the record that it was a marital miscommunication that caused the said "accident" in the first place. I was driving on a two-lane road out to our friend's place and there was another car coming in the opposite direction. As I always do, I veered a little more to the outside of the road. Dugald noticed the giant pothole and said "Watch out" at which point I, thinking he thought I was too close to the center line, moved over even further and drove right into it. Oops.

After arriving in Auckland and catching a cab to the ferry terminal the girls and I arrived in Waiheke with our backpacks (the cheap fare meant no check-in luggage) and grabbed a taxi to the supermarket. Our bach was in Rocky Bay which is a more secluded part of the island - great if you have a car, less so if you don't. However, the girls were complete sports about the whole thing and played quite contentedly in the house, down at the rocky (thus the name) beach, and at the playground nearby. By Wednesday, when Dugald and the car arrived midday, we were ready to explore the rest of the island! As it turns out there is quite a lot to do and see - we drove around checking out the various beaches and plotting our next day's activities before retiring to a lovely restaurant on the beach for dinner. We also got to visit Dugald's cousin Bobs and her husband Eugene for morning tea the next day. They have a lovely summer home on the island and we enjoyed our visit with them immensely. 

The name of our rental was "Castaways".

The view from the balcony.

Again the view, it was stunning.

The girls testing the water when we arrived at Rocky Bay.

They really enjoyed swinging on the tree swing but the water below was stagnant and rather gross so they did their best to not fall off.

We spent a lot of time playing games at this table.

And in their rooms.

Venturing out for a proper swim at Rocky Bay.

Daddy arrived!! On our first visit to Onetangi beach - just checking it out.

My two favorite youngest children.

Ellie lost her front tooth on holiday.

Our day at Onetangi beach was perfect. Katie buried herself in the sand then asked Ellie to jump on her to see if she could feel it.

Daddy helping Ellie catch a wave.

She loved it and headed straight back out to do it on her own. 

We only had one board so Katie did a lot of body surfing.

Josie and Daddy practiced cricket on the sand.

While these three rested from all the fun.

Dinner self-portrait.

Meggie was cold.

Dugald and Bobs having a chat.

The girls on the deck at Bobs and Eugene's.

Eugene was explaining something about one of the pieces of art to the girls.