TASHY TRAVELS

Every Sunday, I am going to upload a post about the different countries I have visited and/or lived in since 2002.

I can assure you of some interesting stories.

NEW ZEALAND 9

This is the last segment from my journey around New Zealand. We first visited for a couple of days in 2006 before setting off around New Zealand and then returned there in November 2006. From that point, excluding the six months in the Pacific, we were almost permanently resident on Waiheke.

It is the second largest island in the Hauraki Gulf, which is the stretch of water to the east of Auckland. It is home to almost 9,000 people. The name Waiheke means, I was told, descending water. The island is about 12 miles long and has a coast of nearly 90 miles, which gives you some idea of the numerous coves and bays that make up that coastline. It is extremely hilly. The island is about 11 miles, or 35 minutes by ferry, from Auckland. This makes it within commuter distance and many of the residents work in the city while, although there is a high school on the island, some children attend schools in Auckland.

Over the last 20 or so years, Waiheke has become a haven for wine makers and there are, or were when I was there, about 30 different vineyards on the island. I actually spent several days at one such vineyard bringing in the crop of grapes. This involves you walking along row after row of vines and snipping off the clumps of grapes. It all has to be done very quickly, as soon as the grapes are ready, and is a pretty tough job. You can be out in the sun for 8 or so hours each day and all grapes do not grow at eye level so there is stretching and bending too.

On our first visit, we were lucky enough to meet Nick Jones, who with his wife had originally planted some vines on the island and built a house nearby. Later, they turned their house into a restaurant and a whole new concept took place. Now the vineyard produces a selection of wines and the restaurant serves a great selection of food to complement these wines and others if you want. We had a great meal there and obviously washed down each course with a selection of Mudbrick wines evaluating the Reserve Chardonnay, the Reisling and the Cabernet Franc. I say evaluating, because Nick told us this is what he does when he tastes the wines before the final stages of whatever happens to them. He also told us that he and two of his friends return a few weeks later for a further evaluation. If he ever runs out of friends, I told him I was available for evaluating purposes any time.

The island is divided into two distinct halves. The west side, as far as a place called Onetangi, is well populated and has a bus service. The eastern side, where we stayed for a week or two is very remote. Once there, if you haven’t a car, that is where you stay. We met an old guy who lived alone on a beach there and he told us he used to walk along the road when the school bus came and pretend to feel ill and they would pick him up. If anyone ever reads this, he’s in trouble and so is the bus driver I suppose. The photo is of the beach where the guy lived. If my memory is correct, his house was one of the little beach hut-looking ones on the left but I may be wrong.

There are many beaches around the island, obvious with an island really. The main ones at Oneroa, the first place you come to when you get off the foot ferry, by bus anyway; Little Oneroa, probably my favourite for various reasons, well, one actually; Palm Beach, which has a nudist section at one end known as Little Palm, in the cold weather anyway, and Onetangi Beach with its mile long stretch of sand. I have put up a montage of Waiheke beach scenes that I took during my time on the island. One of the best sights I saw on those beaches was on a moonlight night. The water glowed green. This is known as Bioluminescence and is caused by sea creatures, living organisms, in the sea. The amazing thing is, that if you go into the water, and I did, it seems to cling to your skin, especially the little hairs on the arms and legs. Amazing.

The one time to avoid Waiheke, if you are looking for peace and quiet, is around Christmas and the New Year. The first time I could not believe the number of boats which turned up around Oneroa, Palm Beach and other places on the island. Some residents, we were told, move out of their properties and rent them out for two months, almost securing enough income to survive the rest of the year. It is more expensive to live on the island, mainly due to the freight costs of bringing in food etc. In my last weeks on the island the only large supermarket was damaged by fire and didn’t open for three or four days. There was a certain amount of panic buying and the smaller shops stocked stuff they normally didn’t and charged prices they normally couldn’t. Of course some goods are made on the island and supply is no problem. Recently olive oil has begun to rival wine as an island produced product.

The most difficult part of living on Waiheke is the water. Each house has to provide its own water supply, usually, unless you can turn wine into water, by collecting rainwater. The downside to this is during the summer, when all these extra people arrive, it doesn’t rain much. You can buy water, delivered to your tank, but that’s expensive. The notice on the left will be very familiar to anyone who, like me, spent a happy time at the Hekerua Lodge Backpackers. Certainly I can vouch for the attempts to save the drinking water. Even if beer was not available, Sangria was a worthy substitute and I still remember an Anglo-Canadian-Danish venture when beer, wine, Sangria, Jack Daniels and Bacardi were all consumed in one evening all in the interests of saving water, although I’m not certain the Anglo-Canadian partnership used less when washing up at 3am; the Danish part was being lectured on cricket by an Englishman from Australia living in New Zealand.

The island boasts a fair number of interesting inhabitants. I think that at least three founder members of Greenpeace, the original Rainbow Warriors, now live on the island and there are artists, poets, writers and musicians. You could often hear, I think on a Monday night, some drummers having a jam session in one of the houses near Oneroa. There are several clubs, although on a small-scale. When I was there, you could go to, and I did, a Sunday Jam session at a place called The Rocks. You can find interesting parties organised by the most interesting people.

Before I tell you more, a little story. One local artist, Mike Morgan, told us he had an exhibition, his first, in New York. He attended in his usual dress, i.e. no shoes. They stopped him from entering. He went away and painted shoes on his feet and they let him in. He had a habit of including his own likeness in many of his paintings, some of which would adorn buildings on the island, including the local police station, where I had to make several visits trying to reclaim my ‘stolen’ passport. More of this in the “Tashy Did” part of my site, try 2009 when it arrives, but I think it went on a bus ride with a solicitor. You’ll love this story.

The comment about interesting parties and interesting people were made because the fire poi photos came from a party I organised for a birthday on the island. I was slightly worried about setting fire to the grass as the party was held in the driest month of January but all went well. We did have a visit or two from the noise policeman but he quietened down after a while. I also remember a guest, who will remain nameless, leaving the party obviously thinking she was back on the Rainbow Warrior and it was now a sailing ship, as she tacked down the road. Too much fire-water dans ma bouche, je pense, although possibly French is not her favoured language.

And that, my friends, ends our New Zealand journey. Maybe it has offered you a taste of how beautiful that country is. And, as your appetite is whetted, one more meal on the iconic little island of Waiheke. As I have said, there are loads of interesting people, lots of creative people and some who overlap both categories. Patrick and Nick, who ran Lazy Lounge when I was there, fit into this group although, having said that, I never met Nick. He is an ex-Englishman and whenever we were there he was watching a premier league football match somewhere else. He actually comes from Kent so how he knows good football I have no idea. I now await letters from Gillingham and Maidstone.

They both came over to the island some time ago and not knowing what to do, did something. Now, having converted a three bedroom house, they run the Lazy Lounge, have a radio station, Waiheke Wireless and, in Patrick’s case, DJ in his spare time. We asked Pat why it was called Lazy Lounge and he said one day he was watching the people sitting around drinking their coffee and everyone was always on the mobile, texting away. They don’t even know how to be lazy he thought. And so Lazy Lounge. He also said he liked alliteration and, later that he was a “dork” and I put the inverted commas just for you Pat.

The whole place fits into the Waiheke style perfectly. It’s relaxed, friendly, caters for everyone and has a great choice of food. The desserts are on display when you order so don’t look down, otherwise you might have a dessert for a starter and then another and another. That’s not to say the pizzas and main dishes are not also appetising but, as you all know, I am a very sweet person, sorry very much a sweet person. And talking of ordering, there are those rather staid establishments who give you a metal ring with a number on which you take back to your table, looking if a may say, a bit of a dork. Not here. You get given a cartoon character to accompany you and all the waiters and waitresses identify you by this character.

I assume Patrick’s favourite is Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse because they alliterate. It’s a nice touch and adds to the feel of the place. After work of course all the creatures queue up to order and Patrick sticks the waiting staff on a metal rod to identify who has ordered what. So, remembering what Pat likes, he has a mixed menu, superb staff, ambient atmosphere, stunning scenery and cute cartoon characters. In other words, alliteratively speaking. a wonderful westaurant

So, as the sun sets over Matiatia Harbour on Waiheke, I have a moment to reflect on my time on Waiheke. My first visit to Waiheke I really enjoyed and my last six months were really good too. That time was spent at a backpackers and the nice part was meeting some really nice people from all over the world. They also re-opened my eyes to some of the beautiful scenery that is all around the place but, when you are there all the time, you sometimes take it for granted.

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