Today we applied our lessons of yesterday, and took the bus. The particular one is called the "Link", a circular route that costs $1.80 per person, not dependent on distance. While waiting, we found an Italian bakery that had wonderful coffee, and a dessert to add to our lunch repertoire.
We bought our ferry ticket - there are, as you would expect, many ferries in Auckland, given how much water borders the city. While we waited for the next one, we found the government tourist centre, and bought ourselves a bird book and a little star book. We had a good chat with an employee who is also a volunteer at the planetarium.
The ferry ride to Waiheke is about half an hour, and it was WARM. I am not used to being on the water in the equinox month without needing a jacket! We bought a day pass on the Island's buses (it's about 24 km. long). We walked to Onerua, the first village in. We saw a purple swamphen on one of the side paths, ID'd thanks to the bird book.
On the way we met some New Zealanders from the Onetangi peninsula area (South Island), and had a good chat. The gentleman recommended a driving route, with various seafood specialties as we go, that we may well take.
We picked up the bus in Onerua, and took it to Onetangi. The island is very hilly and the roads steep and windy. There are a number of small, beautiful, beaches and many vineyards. We had a very good lunch on the beachfront at Onetangi (fish burger for me, chicken for Eric, but very well done). We walked the beach afterward - there were some really unusual shells - long, skinny fan-shaped, and very brittle - so many they were in great piles in places.
We road the bus back into Onerua, and had a small wander in the shops. By then we were both getting tired, so headed back to the ferry and hence 'home'.
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