Well, I’m finally coming back to reality after one of the best weekends of my life. I don’t really know where to start, it still feels a bit soon to review. All I can think is “I wanna go back”.

Nik & I went over to Waiheke Island for a couple of nights & stayed in a cute little retreat. I’ve never stayed in a place like it. We had our own little bungalow situated at the top of a big foresty block of land. There were several other bungalows scattered through the property with little windy paths lit by faerie lights, weaving all around, but we didn’t see a single soul. We didn’t even see our hosts, except for a glimpse through the trees as she deposited our morning croissants at our door for us like some hippy easter bunny. So dreamy…

Hold on, I’ve skipped ahead. Let me start at the beginning otherwise the story will be all-over the place.

On Saturday arvo we caught the ferry over to the island. It’s a beautiful ride. I was having fun already. We arrive at the island, step off the boat & into our rental car. We go to check out our accommodation first.

Wow.

We find the entrance, park the car & wander down the tiny, windy path, following the little signs until we come to “Mudbrick Bungalow”.

It’s a cute, compact hut, almost treehouse looking. The sign on the front says “Welcome Emily & Nikolas”. It’s unlocked so we walk in & make ourselves comfy (as instructed in the email they sent us).

Inside is detailed, very ornamental; lots of little alcoves, coloured & warped glass, peeking holes & feature-windows, all purposefully placed to take advantage of the outdoor views or add interesting light to the room. There is a kitchen & lounge downstairs & then you climb some ladder-stairs (watch your head!) upstairs to a romantic bedroom with plush red carpet & a stylish black bathroom amongst the trees.

We don’t stay long. We went for a walk down to palm beach & saw a mammoth rainbow. Quite awesome.

We get in the car & start exploring before it gets dark, it’s already late. To be honest our road-trip wasn’t too exciting on day 1. We spent too much time getting lost & detouring to travel anywhere poignant before the sun set (I lost my bearings completely on the island & had to keep asking Nik for directions again & again). We did enjoy some wicked burgers & chips though (y’know the type of chips you can only get at the beach that you need to eat with tartare sauce? You just can’t find those in town).

We got back quite late at night & a little frustrated that we had driven so far & seen very little scenery in the blackness (except for the 100m of bitumen in front of the headlights), but at least the sky was clear enough for Nik to get some incredible long exposures of the nightsky. We realized it was definitely worth it when we saw his photos full-sized back at the bungalow. We got a local wine (incidentally from the vineyard we’re seeing Goldenhorse the next day), went back to the bungalow to eat cheeses, tapas & drink our Isola Estate Risque Rose (I was excited to finally have a drink after driving through the vineyards all afternoon. I refuse to drink if I’m driving). The wine was perfectly matched with the blue cheese. Awesome.

The next day we’re up at 8am. That’s croissant-time. The hostess brings around a bag of hot fresh croissants & clips them up on a string in front of our door for us. You can just reach out & get them. We take them upstairs to the loft & have croissants with jam & coffee in bed, trying not to throw crumbs everywhere.

After some lazy-time & a shower we’re off again. We don’t have too long to explore before we have to go to the vineyard gig & we’re hoping to get to the far end of the island & check that out. We head off east. There’s awesome scenery the whole way.

Obviously the cows don’t see many camera-wielding city chicks this far out. If you look closely there are like 6 cows staring me down in that pic.

First we go to see what Stony Batter is (sounds like some lumpy pancake mix). We had heard it’s some historical war-site or something. The road is a dirt track most of the way. It wasn’t the smoothest ride but luckily the rental place somehow didn’t notice all the dust on/in the car (we weren’t meant to go off-road). We got there to find just a carpark & sign. It was a looong walk to what is supposedly underground tunnels, plus they charge an entrance fee. At this point we only have a couple of hours until Goldenhorse so we decide to come back to do the tunnels another day. It sounds worthy of a whole dedicated day (stay tuned for that episode one day).

Then we take the next turnoff for Man O War. Another picturesque bay. The scenery is stunning on this side of the island, well it is on every side of the island really.

It’s time to grab some lunch & then we’re off to see Goldenhorse.
Anika Moa actually started the gig. A couple thousand people were there, tonnes of tempting food & wine stalls (why, oh why did we eat at that shitty takeaway place beforehand?!). The vibe was awesome. Lots of families having picnics & island hippies all lazing around on the grass drinking wine & dancing. It really was a happy atmosphere. Goldenhorse starts up after Anika Moa & everyone is grooving. The band was great, the sound was surprisingly good, Kirsten sings beautifully & we are getting sunburnt to a crisp.

After Goldenhorse, Brooke Fraser is the finale. A little crowd of screaming girls run up to the stage, obviously the crowd has drunk a fair bit of wine at this stage & middle-aged women are now running around like schoolgirls. Women & wine are funny. It’s quite a sight.

Brooke Fraser is more popular than I thought. Despite not being “my type” of music the chick obviously has talent & plays a good set. We decide to leave just short of the end to beat the crowd & I was keen to get out of the sun.

From there we headed off to squeeze in another destination before watching the sunset at the lookout.
We go to visit our “secret beach” that we found last summer. This is a special place. We spent a whole afternoon there last summer, just playing about, skinny-dipping & pretending we’re in Blue Lagoon. It’s quite hard to get to (a steep track gets you above the cove & then you have to climb down) so it’s bound to be deserted. Apart from the rarely-used path above, the beach-cove is totally invisible. No one can see us.

The tide was far higher this time. Last time we could walk beyond the rock-wall on the right into a little cave-like bit.

The munchies had gotten the best of me so we pick up a pizza for dinner & take it up to “the lookout” for sunset. We mightn’t have found this place on our own. The guy at the car rental place directed us to it, “360 degree views of the island” he said. As we were driving east over the ridges we found it kinda randomly. It was obviously the place. What a view.

After the sky lost its colour we moved on again. We thought we’d revisit the pier that we found last night in the blackness (where Nik took his long exposures) to see what it looked like with more light. A beautiful place.

It was freezing so we got back in the car & started heading to our bungalow for the night.
We get back, laze around & review the photos & videos from the day. I’m already mourning the island in my head & don’t want to leave.

The alarm goes off at 6am. I haven’t slept this good in years. I need to move out of the city.

We have to get the 6:40 ferry in order to get back to Auckland in time for work & college. We’re pushing it for time as usual so I’m driving pretty darn fast to the ferry terminal. I drop the car back & run for the ferry but we’ve already missed it.

We wait for the next ferry & I’m looking around at the other people waiting. These people do this mission everyday, back & forth, to work in the city & live in this beautiful place & now I totally understand why. It’s worth the time, it’s worth the $. There is a lifestyle on Waiheke that you can’t have over on the mainland. …and I want it.