ms_go

Auckland
I’ll try to wrap this up quickly. We spent the last two nights in Auckland, in advance of our flight back to San Francisco. When we were in Auckland in 2017, it was pouring rain. Our experience included ducking out of our aparthotel (Swiss-Belsuites Victoria) and running for a restaurant nearby.

It is a long way (~45 minutes with minimal traffic) from the airport to the city center. We used Uber both arriving and departing.

This time, we stayed in the Wynyard Quarter, which is an area of relatively new development – with more construction in progress. It’s home to the Park Hyatt Hotel, which wasn’t there when we visited in 2017. Our accommodation was an excellent Airbnb apartment in a new building with a spacious deck and nice views of the city. Great place with modern conveniences (including washer/dryer), and convenient to a grocery and good restaurants. Very walkable to the city center and ferry building. We were definitely five for five in picking great accommodations for this trip.


A few photos from around our area


Part of the 2023 Kiwi Art Trail - there are 20 around downtown Auckland


Bridge to Wynyard Quarter


Wynyard Quarter community garden - our Airbnb was in the building at top right


Bike and walking paths through the area


View from our terrace

The weather started out fine although the forecast wasn’t promising. We did get caught in a fairly torrential downpour, and we dodged raindrops at other times. But wait 10 minutes, they say...

Our primary activity was a ferry ride (~40 minutes each way) to Waiheke Island. The island features many wineries, walking trails and a few nice small towns (many area residents live there and commute in). You can take a HOHO bus to various destinations or rent a car or e-bikes. We would have been way into the latter, but the forecast just wasn’t good enough. So, we stuck to the western end of the island on foot. It was cloudy and drizzly when we arrived. We settled in for lunch at Vino Vino in Oneroa, and by the time we were done, the clouds were parting. We mapped our route to two wineries for tastings, Mudbrick and Cable Bay, both of which had some nice offerings. The walks there and back were quite scenic.


Lunch at Vino Vino while waiting out the rain - more tuna!


Mudbrick Vineyards - you can see downtown Auckland in the distance


Cable Bay vineyards - the sun is now out


Cable Bay Vineyards


There are walking paths on the island, in addition to the roads - we took one from Cable Bay back to the ferry


Someone lost something - or gave up on non-trail-rated footwear


Walking trail to the ferry


Harbor at Waiheke ferry terminal

We walked several times around the scenic Viaduct Basin – day and night - admiring the various watercraft and views.









We had two excellent dinners in the waterfront area: Hello Beasty (pan Asian) and Baduzzi (Italian). The former we found through searching. The latter was a recommendation from our Airbnb host, who provided an extensive guest guide. Reservations essential.


Sashimi appetizer at Hello Beasty


Dumplings at Hello Beasty


Baduzzi is the Sicilian word for "meatball" and the restaurant is known for theirs - these crayfish meatballs with pumpkin, smoked butter and pistachio salas are award-winning (and delicious)


The saffron and potato tortellini were a close second - a great meal to end the trip

The longest day
It was hard to leave – but we’re also still in a stage where it’s hard to be away from home for more than two weeks, and at this point, we were at 17 days. We Uber-ed back to the airport, spent the rest of our cash on three huge Whittaker’s chocolate bars to take home (now all gone – coconut was the best!), and settled into the Air New Zealand Lounge, which has excellent food.

We left our Airbnb at 10:30 am. Our flight departed Auckland at 2:30 pm. We arrived at SFO at 7 am. Our flight to Chicago left at 10:50 am and arrived at about 5 pm. All on the same date!

I'll come back later and leave some final thoughts.

mlgb

Interesting about the Wynard Quarter.

Maybe between trip reports by you and magsrose, there will be a few more Fodorites spending time in the North Island.

I still have a few small bars of Whittakers Dark Ghana left from last year's trip, but now I regret not buying even more. The little mini slabs are so good for "emergency chocolate" and when hiking.

https://www.whittakers.co.nz/en_WW/products#mini-slabs

ms_go

I see that I can order Whittaker’s chocolate on Amazon if I am so inclined. But another trip to New Zealand would be better

Wrap up
October turned out to be a great time to visit for these particular areas. I think we were somewhat lucky with the weather. One of the reasons we chose the very north end of the South Island – particularly Marlborough – is because it tends to be a sunnier (but who knows these days) and warmer this time of year than places further south. Coming from the Chicago area, we are used to wind and brisk temps and just dress for it. For the most part, highs were in the 50s and 60s (~10-18 Celsius), and I don’t think it got even near freezing. I took two raincoats/windbreakers (one for cities, one for hiking), a lightweight down vest, and one fleece sweatshirt that I could put under a jacket if needed (but rarely did). I never wore the gloves that were packed.

Otherwise, the upsides of off-season travel far outweighed the downsides. Our accommodations were at lower-season rates. Crowds were sparse. We didn’t have to book ahead for activities or water taxis. We had some trails to ourselves. We encountered very few tour groups – just a couple in and around Auckland. And NO SANDFLIES!

On the other hand, some restaurants, wineries, and activities (e.g., kayaking) were on low-season schedules. For example, in Kaiteriteri, only one restaurant was open in the evenings while we were there.

In conclusion, we had a great trip. I'm not sure there's anything I would have changed. We were very happy with the destinations we chose and the diverse set of experiences they provided. We were also happy with our decision to spend most of our time within a pretty small radius. It cut down on the driving/travel and some of the stresses that go with that. Of course, we could have spent a month in this area and not run out of things to do, but that isn’t an option for us right now.

Next time: Perhaps the southern end of the South Island and more time in the Fjordlands – maybe the Routeburn Track? TBD...

KarenWoo

Ms_go, thank you so much for your wonderful and very helpful trip report. I appreciate your wrap-up, especially your information about the weather and clothing. That’s so important! I always agonize about bringing the appropriate clothing while at the same time not wanting to over pack by bringing clothing that I won’t need.

magsrose

Loved your trip report. Great chocolate discussion, ha ha. When my box arrives that I shipped to myself, I could have enough Whittaker's to last me a year or two. But actually I'll give lots of it away too. Your restaurant selections and meal choices look superb. I agree about the perks of off-season travel. The only thing I tend to regret is when things I'm interested in aren't open or have reduced hours. How was your jet-lag recover back in Chicago? I've been back in Salt Lake for a week and I'm still struggling to get on track.

Diamantina

ms_go. I enjoyed your report and photos, especially those of the Abel Tasman track, as I have lost my SD card with photos of my walks on the track. But I could vicariously revisit it through your photos. I also stayed at the Kaiteriteri Reserve, but in a simpler one bedroom unit as I was on a solo trip, but wished I could have stayed in one of the waterview apartments (next time, maybe). My unit did not have a view but it came with ducks who'd sit with me on my little deck. The unit was large, well-equipped, and economical (I visited in early December, just before school holidays). It was such a convenient place to stay. Not only was it close to the beach; grocery/shop; cruise, water taxi, and kayaking operators and booking desks, but it was also close to the bus stop for the bus that took me back to Nelson.

Your Wellington photos also made me miss the sights (and tastes) of that city. Zealandia and the Botanic Garden are among my favorites. I think I'm due for another visit! For me, the best time is when the World of Wearable Art show is on.

I love your brightly colored photo of California poppies with the mountainous background ("spring flowers in the vineyard"). It made me long to be in Marlborough and in my native Northern California. Like you, parts of Wellington remind me of my hometown of San Francisco, but before the many tasteless skyscrapers marred the skyline.

ms_go

Thanks, Diamantina and magsrose. Glad I could provide a vicarious revisit of the Abel Tasman track. I'd have loved to walk a bit more of it.

Re: the jet lag, we did not really have issues on this trip in either direction. That was somewhat surprising to us. I wish I could say that about every trip!

magsrose

I opened my Whittaker's Coconut Block this weekend, and oh yes, it's a good one. That and Almond Gold are my favorites so far.

althom1122

Fabulous trip report! Thanks so much. As you know, we leave on Monday for our trip. Your thoughts on Abel Tasman will be especially helpful.