Wine on Waiheke

On our first full day on Waiheke Island, Andy and I had a low key morning in preparation for our planned biking tour of the local wineries. We took a stroll to Palm Beach, which proved to be much different (in a good way) than its American counterpart.

We took the nearest path down to the beach and meandered along the shore, enjoying the quiet, sunny morning.

We made our way to the next beach over, which turned out to be a nude beach. Luckily, Andy was able to warn me before I had to see too much for myself. Needless to say, the next shot is the only picture I took, looking away from the beach.

We climbed back uphill to make our way back to our house, since Waiheke is nothing if not hilly. As we ascended, we got a great view of the beach below, so I was able to get some nude-free shots.

Moments like this, I just wish I could pause time.

We reluctantly left this view behind and had a bite to eat back at our bach before grabbing a couple bikes from the shed and beginning our journey to the first winery on our itinerary, Obsidian. Let’s just say that Waiheke is a whole lot different for wine touring than Martinborough. We had to go up an enormous hill just to coast all the way down it again to get to the first wine tasting spot. Both Andy and I ended up walking our bikes for a good portion of the incline.

Once we made it to Obsidian though, all woes were quickly forgotten.

We got to sample some great wines and grab a bottle for later before hitting the road and making our way to Casita Miro, a restaurant and winery. Thankfully, this portion of the road was much flatter.

Casita Miro was incredible. The road leading up to it looked like a Mediterranean country lane, and the entire place felt as if it had been picked up from Spain and dropped onto Waiheke.

The jamón hanging from the ceiling and incredible tapas menu made it very tempting to get a meal here, but we planned to do that at Wild on Waiheke later on.

The wine tasting option was a bit overpriced, so we decided to just get a glass of wine each and take them up to the back garden. Wow. What a place!

The whole back area would’ve made the Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí proud. I was immediately transported back to my family’s amazing vacation to Spain in 2013 and our visit to Gaudí’s Park Güell in Barcelona. New Zealand truly does have it all.

Cheers to an amazing view with the best date around.

We had the entire place to ourselves, and it was hard to say farewell when we’d finished our glasses. We did still have a ways to bike to reach Wild on Waiheke for a late lunch.

We ended up making the journey in no time, since the main road was surprisingly flat on this part of the island. Andy had been to Wild on Waiheke before, and he knew they did great food, so I was eager to give it a try.

We ordered beer samplers to change it up from the wine we’d be having everywhere else.

That’s actually my only picture from Wild on Waiheke. The food was so good that I couldn’t even pause to get a shot of it. We ordered the most amazing octopus I’ve had outside of Greece and Spain, and our main course was a sampler platter that certainly rivals Poppies’ from Martinborough. Yum!

Full of delicious food, we made our way up some more hills to The Goldie Room. Just when we thought we couldn’t take it anymore, we saw the turnoff for the winery. Andy immediately sighted a great photo op which was right up my alley. He certainly knows me.

If this isn’t heaven on earth, I don’t know what is.

We decided to skip the tasting here, too, and just get a glass of wine each that we could enjoy outside.

They even had a tire swing. Wine on a tire swing was definitely a first for me.

The winery staff warned us that a tour group was going to arrive soon, so we decided to head up to the majestic tree that overlooks the entire vineyard. This next shot of Andy sipping wine beneath that tree may be my favorite photo of the day.

I had to get one too, of course. Thanks, Andy.

The view from up there was absolutely gorgeous, and we had the spot all to ourselves.

I managed to get a few more shots before the tour group showed up. Most of them were American, and one even commented in regards to the view, “I’ve seen better.” Yikes. These are the people who give us a bad name.

We decided to call it a day, having seen so many amazing sights, and made the journey back to our house. After a day of rigorous biking, fantastic wine and delicious food, we were in bed before sundown. It was yet another great time in Waiheke, and we still had another full day ahead of us. If you think we’re done with wine and good views, just you wait.