Waiheke Island

Auckland is not considered one of the highlights of New Zealand, mainly because everything else is so nice.  It is small compared to Chicago or San Francisco, but it has nice views.  I was looking in a book on what to do on our second day in Auckland.  The day before, we watched the ferries leave the harbor, so I decided to look into in.  At worst, we'd get a nice view of the harbor and see some of the scenery.  I figured a trip to Waiheke Island would be like going to Bainbridge, except I have never been to Bainbridge even after living in Seattle for ten years.  (Oh well.)

Downtown Auckland from the ferry.

View from the ferry.

View from the ferry.

The Boy said "Fox would love it here.  He would think this is paradise."  Translating things into what Fox would think is one way the Boy says what he is thinking.   Here we are, on a random trip, and we see a beach that is just as nice as ones in Hawaii, in a city similar to Vancouver, B.C..  We found a restaurant that had a great view of the Oneroa Beach.  People would drive their boats into the cove, take a little boat to shore, and hang out for the afternoon.  "I want to live here," said the Boy.  And this was a 35 minute ferry ride to downtown Auckland.  It would have been a reasonable commute.

Oneroa Beach

 We hung out at the beach, and then took a bus to another part of the island.  We ate in a restaurant that overlooked the beach.  On the bus ride back to the ferry, the Boy said,  "I am just so happy and I don't know why."

Auckland is a working port.  While natural views are often amazing, sometimes industrial scenery can be beautiful.  See West Seattle.