It's still summer on Waiheke island!

When we left Queenstown yesterday, there was a definite autumn feel in the the air, and in the color of the trees.  But here, on Waiheke island - it is still very much summer!
Our host, Jonathan, described the island well:   When we asked him this morning "what is there around here, what should we see?"  He answered:  "There is nothing around here, yet very much to see".
it describes the place perfectly.....

 So that's what we did all day, walked around, looking at pretty beaches....

 pretty harbors......

 the view of Auckland on the horizon - only 14kn away, and yet so far.....

 And went "ooh' and 'ahh" over the lush countryside of rolling hills, vineyards,

and olive groves.  This place looks like a cross between Martha's vineyard and the south of Italy.

as you may guess, I had to go for a swim in the wonderfully clear water, and sit on the very fine sand for a while too....  (There were quite a few people in the water, the temperature does not vary very much all year long)

Th B&B we are staying at has this amazing vegetable garden!  The climate is so mild here that it can produce all year long (I'm jealous).  I loved the way it was set up!  I think i'll steal some ideas from it for our garden (I love this "Ladder" thing.....).

 We had to take pictures of a couple of signs in town...  - this one says (It's a butcher):
"all animal are created equal"......
".... but some are tastier.....".

And we just loved the fact that this says you can park for 2880mins!














Tomorrow, we get to spend most of the day here, and then we go to the airport Sofitel for the night - the first step to the trip home (sigh......).