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That morning, we woke up around 8:30 and started trying to get out of the hotel room to jump onto the ferry to Waiheke Island, known for its wineries. By the time we made got ready, packed our stuff, checked out, and dropped off our bags, we were racing to catch the 10:00 AM ferry.
We had grandiose plans to catch the public buses, but we ended up having to improvise given our 5:45 PM flight to Queenstown—we knew we wouldn’t have too long on the island. Because the buses weren’t running soon enough, we ended up walking to the first winery—Mud Brick. It was a 40-minute walk up a hill, and we were so ready for the wine that we did it in 30.
Mud Brick had incredible views, so we sat down on the patio and ordered a cheese plate and some salmon dip with focaccia. We also started with the wine tasting, which was a mix of multiple Chardonnays, Syrahs, and red blends. The wines were intense but on the acidic side, so they weren’t our favorite, but the views were great and the staff was helpful.
One quick story: the lady giving us the tasting was using a little pour spout for the bottles since they were screw-top. While pouring some for Sarah, the spout popped out and fell on the floor, splashing wine all over Sarah and the bar. The lady was very concerned about Sarah, but she was ok. So Sarah picked up the spout from the floor and gave it back to the woman, who just plopped it back into the bottle. We decided alcohol kills germs so we just kept drinking.
We also told them we were running over to Jurassic Ridge for our next tasting (it was next door), and they said that was a good idea if we were running low on time.
Turns out, Jurassic Ridge was completely closed. They should have warned us! We had to go back up the hill to get to the next nearest winery, Cable Bay. We’re pretty glad we ended up going to this one because everything was excellent. Our sommelier was from France and was extremely friendly (stereotypes be damned), and the wines were all outstanding. It was also fascinating because they gave us a map of every grape along with its planting year, vine density, and other (useless-to-Eric, but interesting) grape facts.
We ordered pizza and fries and unfortunately barely ate them before having to run out to the bus. We really cut it close (1:45 bus before the 2:00 ferry) and it turns out that the bus line was running late because one of them broke down. It ended up being another stressful ride, but we made it a couple of minutes (literally) before the ferry left. Phew. (Reminded us of our first ferry from Greece to Turkey, which is a story for another time).
From there, we took the ferry back, grabbed our car, and drove to the airport for our flight, which we made well ahead of time (a first!).
Landing in Queenstown was spectacular. Neither of us realized how beautiful it would be. The town sits on a azure lake with soaring mountains surrounding it.
We took the bus to our hostel which was an easy and convenient ride, until Sarah ate it on the way out of the bus. Also, we think this is where we had our first packing causalities: RIP BANFF beanie and gloves. Our rooms at the hostel had a down-the-hall bathroom, which was a first for Sarah, but it ended up working out minus the shared blow dryer being out of commission.
The only downside of the room was that, since it was next to the bathroom, the water pipes were extremely loud during the night—but we were so exhausted from travel that we both slept great. (I mean, we took ferries, hiked, visited two wineries, bused, and flew to the south island all in one day). Despite being dead tired, we did wake up early to the booming sound of thunder shaking the entire building. It must have been unusual as it was the talk of the town the next day.
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