Hello to everyone! It's Saturday here, but yesterday as I eluded to before was a great day seeing much more of Auckland. This picture I choose was from the ferry ride to Waiheke Island. We had to take a 40 minute ferry to the island and we passed many neat areas along the way. This picture was from another side island and I just loved the cliffs. I also took many pictures of downtown Auckland from the boat. I'm going to post some pictures on the photo section of the blog, so try to look there a bit later.
On the island we visited Mudbrick Vineyards and had a lovely lunch overlooking the scenic view of the winery and also the water. We stayed so long at lunch that we didn't allow much time to see the island as we had to get back for the wedding rehearsal at the church. On the island, far off in a distance, I had my first sheep sighting. It was great. I hope I can see one up close, but not sure if that will happen or not. Another highlight was seeing all of the sailboats out sailing as we returned to Auckland yesterday. There were even two America's Cup sailboats practicing. They were spectacular!
The rehearsal was nice and ran well. The bride and groom are of course a bit nervous, as most usually are, but they are doing fine and really anticipating the big day - tomorrow! Today, I am trying to do some shopping and we are going to another smaller island town called Devonport. It's just about across the harbor from where I am staying. We will take a 20 minute ferry over to it. There are some artisan shopping and things to do there. Today is a quieter day and I think even time for a nap perhaps. Haven't had one of those yet. Tomorrow will be busy from start to finish because of the wedding.
Thanks for reading the blog and hearing about this unique experience. In some ways it seems that I've adapted to being here as I am calling people chaps and drinking flat whites (coffee with cream) daily. But it will be nice to get home too to see my family and friends and Florida! Bye for now!