New Zealand Adventure-Day3 Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island is an island near from Auckland and famous for wineries and beautiful sights. It is quite accessible from Auckland by a ferry.

I was looking for something natural, wanted to expose myself to the country's wildness. When I got a brochure about the island at the hostel's reception, I thought that was it. Therefore, I decided to go to the island on my third day.

The city's port "Queens Wharf" is located at the end of the city's main street called "Queens Street" and along  Quay Street. I went down the Queens Street in the middle people commuting to their office and reached to the port early in the morning. There was some time to catch the ferry, so I dropped by a convenience store to get a morning snack (usually I don't have a breakfast in Japan, but I thought it was better to eat something before my wildness experience in the island).

I got a minced-beef pie with some cheese and 1.5ml bottled mineral water. There was a bench in front of the store, so I sat down there for my breakfast. In a sunny day, having sea wind on my face, I felt cozy. The pie was tasty but kind of heavy on my stomach as there was much beef and cheese inside the pie. The more I bit, the heavier I got in my stomach, so it took me much time to finish the meal.

Then, I bought one return ticket and jumped on the ferry. The ferry departed for a 45-minute cruise taking us to the island. It was a long luxury time on the ferry as I was looking at the beautiful ocean views in the window. Unfortunately, it was getting cloudy and I mistakenly left my jacket in the hostel room, it was cold on the deck, so I kept sitting in a room.

I had to rush to a restroom after I got off the ferry, so I missed a bus going to Oneroa village, the island's main town. I waited for a next bus to come at the ferry terminal for an hour. Fortunately, the cloud in the sky disappeared so I could enjoy calm sunshine with the blue sky.

The ferry company runs bus network in the island and one-day free ticket for the bus was available. I didn't want to be bothered by calculating fares, I decided to take it. I asked a lady at the desk for the ticket and she told me about Onehunga beach. She explained to me that the beach is so beautiful to see by walking and I can walk to a wilderness area nearby. Since I had no plans to go, her advise was a good help.

I caught a bus heading to the beach. It was 30-minute ride in a country side, then I saw a splendid view in front. The beach was so nice and cozy! That was one of the moments to realize I was in New Zealand. I walked along the beach having gentle sea wind from the horizon.

I remembered that the lady at the ferry terminal told me about the wilderness area. She said it is a wild bush where people can get inside for a forest walk. I had thought it was a well-organized natural park like Yosemite National Park in USA. Actually, there are several "wild ranges" in New Zealand, the one wasn't what I had thought. When I approached to the entrance, I felt it was literally,,,,a forest. Too foresty.....and NO HUMANG BEINGS THERE....

A point of no return. No choice to leave was left to me, so I pushed through the wild trees to go inside. That said, I started to feel that it wasn't that bad soon. All I could see was trees and its leaves and all I could hear was birds chirping. Wind hit the tree and leaves rubbed each other. The sound was like waves in the ocean. I felt I was in a deep water when I closed my eyes. Honestly, no one was there, so I could occupy the whole moments that the forest gave me.
(After I came back to the hostel that day, I came to notice that there was a well-organized wild range at a different place in the island).

Waiheke island is famous for wineries, but generally I'm not that interested in wine, so I skipped them. I caught a bus heading back to ferry terminal. As I was approaching to Auckland on a ferry, the sky was getting dark.