Waiheke Cycle

We had a Grabone voucher for cheap fares on the Waiheke ferry, Explorer, that we needed to use up so we parked over the bridge and cycled (madly as we were late) to the ferry terminal and arrived with no minutes to spare. Explorer have opened up in competition with Fullers. They were very cheerful and extremely helpful with the bikes.

http://www.explorewaiheke.co.nz

Mine is the pink bike and you may notice it has a handy battery on the back… I need assistance with the hills sometimes. It is a killer though, when the juice runs out as it is always at the end of the trip so both the bike and I are exhausted.

It was a perfect day though and it is sometimes easy to take our beautiful coastline for granted. We stopped at a lovely French coffee house called FrenchOt and had a wee pick-me-up of coffee and pastries.

http://www.frenchot.com/

French pastries

We continued on around the coast. At about the half way point we again “rested” with a bag of cherries, first for the season. It’s a tough life.

0118fc6a4b02b1df4fcc797b4840e2fd5dc1316a0a — We are pretty sure these birds are godwits and they put me in mind of Robin Hyde’s The Godwits Fly, a book on my book sheIf would like to revisit.

Robyn Hyde can be found represented on the Wellington waterfront.

I also like her poetry. This the last verse from Half Moon

Go quietly. The tall gods here
Would wear your beauty like a flower,
To crush with jests and cast aside
In one unpitying, splendid hour.

01eb13249107f8b041d0b8d56ccad1a23846379b2f — I loved reading the local newspaper; how wonderful that news is when a child’s scooter and gumboots have been left at the park.

Our last stop for the day was the expensive Oyster Inn. I hear Mick Jagger was there last week.

We had limited time and money so we just had some drinks and the olives and bread dipped in their own olive oil. It was delicious and I wish I had bought a bottle. We sat on the verandah and looked out to sea.