Tramp Reflections 779 - Waiheke Island

14-16 March 2008

A van well loaded up and Anderley in her car plus her bike left Wynyard Wharf in Auckland at 8pm on Friday night on board the ferry for Waiheke Island – a first for some of us. We arrived at the Forest and Bird Lodge at 9.25pm in the dark. We had trouble finding flat land for tents, but Val and John managed to get theirs up. Sheila and Nick gave up and slept inside for the night. Those inside had to contend with a few annoying mosquitoes.

The next morning, we loaded the van and drove to Blackpool where we walked almost through to Miatiatia. The views to Rangitoto with boats and beaches were beautiful. A lot of the land seems to be small blocks, many with vineyards. We saw some interesting houses and an unusual aluminium sculpture that flowed down a bank like an unwound water tank. We discussed a name for it and played with ideas and perhaps having a competition – all ideas only. We retraced our steps back to Blackpool where we visited Janey’s sister where we had tea and delicious hot cross buns. On the drive back to the Lodge, we stopped at the supermarket to get more groceries.

After lunch, poor Sheila and Nick entertained us all by erecting their new tent. Few of the comments were helpful and at times their frustration with their audience was almost evident. Their patience and fortitude has to be admired. Eventually their home was erected and they were able to move in. We all went down to Onetangi beach for a lovely swim and walk along the beach. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon. Some of us walked back home and others went in the van. Everyone pooled food and wine for a huge potluck dinner and we all had a very enjoyable evening.

On Sunday morning we left early to go to Stony Batter along Man O War Rd. The Information Centre wasn’t opened when we arrived, so we looked around and climbed down into one of the gun turrets. We were unable to get into the tunnels. The lady at the Museum gave us an informative talk on the area. Some of the walls of the tunnels are up to 20ft thick. Many of us did not realize that the Germans laid mines in the sea off our coast during World War 2. Because of our location, we were the first country to declare war on Germany. We spent some time going through the tunnels and climbing around the gun turrets and looking out over land and sea on a glorious morning.

Then we walked down a steep track to Opopo Bay, from where Pakatoa Island was just a stones throw away and the hungry ones among us feasted on rock oysters. We climbed back up through farmland to a trig and back to the van.

After lunch, we had a big clean up of our lodgings and then went down to the beach for a well earned swim. Further down on the beach, an area was set up for a wedding and we watched the ceremony from afar. The afternoon was topped off with ice creams and drinks before taking another Tiki Tour back to catch our 4pm ferry. It was a bit tricky getting the van on and off the ferry, but Malcolm had excellent driving skills and did not need the advice of several back seat drivers!

Thank you to Janey and Malcolm for a well organized and interesting weekend. We would all like to return to Waiheke in the future as there is still plenty to see and do that we were unable to cover in just 2 days.

The Team

Image; looking out at the views from one of the gun turrets.