8/29/2012 - Biking, Hiking, Birding, and 'Wine-ing'

8/29/2012 - Biking Kawana Island.  

We readied the bikes and donned the special helmets - modified to deter dive bombing magpies.  This is a new use for cable ties... spiffy!

 
Then we set off to the bike path that runs right next to the Parrearra Channel.  The path is well kept, well used, and runs right between the channel and the homes on the channel.  

This is just an observation, but I do believe that there are, per capita, more Bird of Paradise plants here than in Hawaii!  Every landscape is unique and interesting and it seems there are birds calling and trilling from each tree or plant.  You can even hear them across the channel.

We will need to do this ride again and take pictures of the homes and gardens.  

Here are a few shots of the path and birds... 
 
 

When we got home, we looked at some excursions that Ron & Dot suggested and selected a walk to Pt Cartwright and a picnic in La Balsa Park.  Good Suggestion & selection!

We drove up the beach road and parked for our walk.  



The beach was more rocky, but still beautiful.

Then we drove to La Balsa park for our picnic.

We sat and watched the boats and were pestered by a magpie that wanted a snack... we didn't share even though he tried to sway us with a song.  It was a nice song though I wasn't quick enough to catch it on video.

The bird left and so did we...


We were off to Dan Murphy's as they have the largest selection of wine, liqueurs, and single malts - I think - anywhere.  We chatted with Dan (not the establishment namesake) who was extremely knowledgeable about wines.  It was fabulous!  We got 5 nice Aussie wines and 1 French one.  

I must explain the French one for Joan... we complained about the lack of 'oaky' Chardonnay and Dan suggested an Aussie one and a French one that might fit our bill.  He said they are starting to bring back the oak and people are happy about it.  We will let you know, but... THERE'S HOPE, JOAN!!!

Aussie - $30 - $40

 

French - $15

When we got home again, one of the Brown Honeyeaters gave me a show in the backyard... he's peeking out from behind his flower...  

We tried one of the Shiraz' Dan suggested with dinner (lamb chops on the barbie) and 'WOW' was it good!

 Another great day in OZ was completed.

8/27 thru 8/28 - Kawana Island, Parrearra, Australia

8/27/2012 - The trip to OZ started with a quick clean of the condo.  Hilary gave us a pass on cleaning, but I cannot leave things too 'untidy.'   The shuttle van arrived and whisked us off in the rain to Auckland airport in early Monday Traffic.  Our weather karma is holding - rain on the day we leave...Yay!

We checked in quickly and headed to the lounge for an hour's wait... they have a fascinating hammock system that is quite comfy and stretches out to accommodate sleeping.

NZ Air took good care of us on the flight.  Food and wines were great and - of course - we indulged a bit much.  We each watched a movie,  listened to tunes, learned about Australia, and arrived to fine weather.

After an hour and 20 minute shuttle ride right to the door, we explored the Ron & Dot's lovely home, unpacked, and settled in.

Gated entry

Front Door

The house is wonderful - my pictures do not do it justice.

View into the sun room

Patio Dining

Patio for bird watching

8/28/2012 (Tuesday) - A walk to the Beach was in order first thing - not for the sunrise, but that is now in planning. This was a great way to check out the road we'll have to take to go shopping.

What a glorious morning!  The sun was warm and the air was cool - perfect!  

 

We walked through Kawana Island to the beach through the Palkana Park, which reminded me a bit of last year's hike on Long Island with Wayne and Christian.  

Walkway to the dunes & Beach

Spectacular Views

Looking toward Pt Cartwright

 

Looking south toward Dicky Beach

Unfortunately, there were a couple of small and one larger fish that had some trouble with the outgoing tide.  The waves are intense here and it is easy to see how this could happen.  Though these guys will help the sea birds and other creatures by their passing, it's sad that such a pretty fish got stuck this way.  

Due to the wave action, shells were quite hard to find... I got a few.  I'll keep looking though!

On the walk to the beach we saw Mick's Meat Barn and the First Fruit Shed - we checked them out on the way home.  We got some of Mick's "Pre War Sausages" (why 'Pre War'? Because they are made with beef and spices - the old way, without fillers).  We'll try them for dinner later in the week.  

Then we walked home and drove up to the Kawana Shopping world.  There are 2 grocer's in this mall - something we don't usually have in USA malls.

 The Grocer's are Woolworths and Coles.  Interesting foods and prices... and the trolley (the grocery carts) wheels move all ways - love it.

We stocked up and headed home - knowing we'll return to the Shopping World... good place.

It was a great day!

8/24 thru 8/26 - Exploring Auckland and Beyond

The last post occurred today... 8/26, before I changed the date and time on our laptop.  Apparently, the blog is on US time.

8/24/2012 - We awoke to ANOTHER beautiful day and decided to drive up to Goat Island Reserve and do the glass bottom boat tour - it's way too chilly to snorkel.

We drove north on the 1 to Warkworth and then East on Matakana Rd and Leigh Rd to Leigh, then north to the Goat Island cutoff and car park.

The views from the car park were fabulous and included some nesting birds with the Pacific, some resting birds, a fisherman, and Goat Island.

We were a tad late to the 11:00 am sailing - we had trouble knowing whether we were in the right place so we headed off to find some lunch in Pakiri (PACK-er-ee).  It was a fascinating drive on a mostly gravel, nigh on one lane road with a couple of escaped cows chowing down on the 'greener grass' outside their fences.  This road had spectaculars views, too.  

 The pictures are not showing Pakiri!





What we didn't realize was that Pakiri had only a campground with a camp store... so we each had a large chocolate covered ice cream bar on a stick.  They were nummy!

We drove back past the cows and got on the boat.


 It was a good tour...  they don't have the brightly colored fish due to the water being cold, so I'm glad we didn't snorkel.  Goat Island's geologic features were intriguing and somewhat scary when the boat got close to the rocks.

We hiked back out, drove back to Auckland and basked in the good experience of the day.

08/25/2012 - Today we decided to do a city hike called the "Coast to Coast Walkway" (Tasman Sea to Pacific Ocean).  The good thing was that we knew we didn't have to do the whole thing and could get a bus if we pooped out... the bad thing was that we already did 3/4 of it when we found the bus.

We started out taking the bus to Onehunga (Oh-ne-honga), printing maps at the library since Lee forgot his phone, and having lunch before taking off toward Auckland.  

The normal hike would be about 10.6 miles... and it was NOT mostly level!

The route went through one of the most beautiful parks ever, Cornwall Park.  They have cattle and sheep in fields throughout the park - and the babies were SO CUTE!  And there were warnings... don't mess with the sheep or you could cause 'mis-mothering'.  Some of the mothers didn't get the memo and were close to the fence.

The trees were gorgeous and different.

We didn't go up all the way to One Tree Hill, but we were close.

We wove our way through the rest of the park, a number of neighborhoods, and part of the University over to Mount Eden.  Then we started climbing... this felt a tad like a hike in France.

 You can see the One Tree Hill in the distance... this was when we decided we needed to find a bus!

We still had to hike over the shoulder of Mount Eden, but we did it.

Sitting down on the bus was heaven - or felt like it.

Take away Chinese was dinner and that ended the day,

08/26/2012 - Chris, Hilary, and Franca returned from LA.  We had breakfast with them, gassed up the car, wandered to the Queensferry Hotel Tavern for the "Best Fish & Chips in Auckland", and spent the afternoon blogging and packing.

Chris was selling one of his vehicles... quite a classic convertible.  Couldn't resist a picture of it.

We will miss New Zealand - it is comfortable!