Aucklanders all ask, "are you going to Waiheke (Why-heck-ee)?        

You get the sense this is where heaven is for the native Kiwi .   Heaven, plus home for 20 boutique wineries spotted along the countryside.      

Using a combo of local bus, walking and one day of rental car, we cover the island, including the far end of the island, not serviced by buses – likely because the washboard gravel roads would do something funny to their axels, as they did to my fillings.  

We lucked into the annual Waiheke Vintage Festival, a 5-day bonanza of wine tastings, pairings, dinings and recoverings.      Our primary vineyard target, Passage Rock, allowed us to harvest grapes ourselves, and foot stomp them into flat grape skins floating amid stems and juice…to be turned into a rosè in half a year's time of which six bottles will be shipped to each stomper.

So fun.    The squish of the grapes in your toes was vaguely reminiscent of a good Bay of Fundy mud flats walk, but less through-your-toes, if you know what I mean.

Had to forfeit the fruits of our labour, as a modest additional shipping fee of $190 was unique to Canadians .     

The vintner joined us and as soon as he knew we heralded from Nova Scotia, he treated us to an ice wine he made from manual freezing of grapes – he is known as one of the most experimental vintners on the island and this was one of his latest experiments.     I loved it.       

The manager of the vineyard also impressed us with his reverence for the grape.    He made sure we picked every grape in the area we were working.    Any that had more than 20% underdeveloped grapes, he wanted placed at the roots so they would re-fertilize the vines.  The grapes they allotted to us passers-by were from young plants that were not mature enough to contribute to their award-winning wines – an early harvest would allow the vines to get stronger quicker.     Every grape should go to its highest use, be that compost or the finest wine.   

A wonderfully quirky Aucklander mirrored our route of wineries and we became day-friends through it .    His owns a cellar of 700+ bottles of wine, some bought for under a hundred and now worth 10x that.     He shared knowledge of the birds, trees and fauna – pointing out all sorts of little creatures we might have missed.      Between Obsidian Winery and the most famous New Zealand winery (as identified by our new friend Allan) Stonyridge, we chose to pass on the bus and walk up the hills and dales connecting vineyards and forests together.      The route was more beautiful as the vines are all fruit-laden ready to be picked over the next month and the tireless crickets made the only sound. To that, Allan noted that they sing as long as it 21 degrees or warmer – below that, silence.

A beach was 5 mins away from our little rental unit, surprisingly cooler than Hawaiin waters.      Not so much as to be a deterrent from jumping in though.

One last bon-vivant moment to share.      At a remote cove of the island, we found a pier with two Swiss brothers fishing with maybe eight rods draped over the edges at suitable intervals.      We asked them about how to fish in NZ – thus started a great chat of techniques, gear and pics.    The best part of an hour which was just downright fun.        

Then, as is our practice on the road, back to our unit-de-jour to relive the day over a glass of wine.   This time, very special wine.