YES…sure IS “Paradise” to me!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011 – Oneroa  Public Library -  It’s hard to believe that we have been here on Waiheke Island for two weeks now!   Time is flying by!  I didn't get to the Library yesterday because it was drizzling all day long.   Today is blue skies and a walk along Surfdale and Blackpool Beaches to get here!

So we had a great Valentine’s Day as I outlined last Monday.   Our V-Day pic before we walked into Oneroa: 

Little Oneroa Beach was so pretty (I came back one day this week while Geoff napped and found some pretty shells):   

Geoff made me a yummy pork stir fry served up with a cute card, chocolate and Oyster Bay Pinot Noir:

I did the dessert (with a little help from Betty Crocker)—chocolate caramel muffins with Hokey Pokey (think “Pralines & Cream” @ Baskin & Robbins) ice cream served on caramel sauce (tasted pretty darn good, too!): 

So we had a nice week just hanging around the area—I’m walking the beach each day and Geoff is getting back into a jogging schedule.

We picked Friday to see the “Headland Sculpture on the Gulf Waiheke Island”—it was along a 2.5 km coastal walk and it ended yesterday (was from January 28-February 20).     It started down by the Matiatia Ferry Terminal—this is looking up from there—the path is along where the small white flags can be seen: 

The artwork ranged from interesting to clever to quizzical to downright weird!   The prices for the “sculptures” were from NZ$150 for a signed umbrella (part of an exhibit where you could borrow the umbrella to walk the trek) to NZ$170,000 for a tall stainless steel thing.  We enjoyed it all and the views along the coastal walk were breathtaking because it was a sunny,  blue sky/white cloud kind of day! 

Geoff and I got into the “artsy spirit” and shed out clothes, sat on some paint and displayed for the “Barebottomland”:

Some of my favorites, aside from “Barebottomland” were: 

“Carpet” made of woven corrugated and colored strips of iron: 

“Lookout / Pacific Radiolaria” (made from stainless steel, hand finished and  electropolished:

SOS made of 37 life buoys, rope, chains and anchors (untitled) : 

And honorable mention goes to the two cutest gnomes (one stainless steel & the other—you decide!):

And, for my dear Larisa, I had a really good, super-venti  cuppa coffee (worth NZ$8,500)—by the way—that is Auckland in the distance behind me and the coffee!:  

After several hours of enjoying the artworks  (there were 39 displays) and the views, we walked another 2 kms to Cable Bay Vineyard for lunch and some wine tasting/buying:  

 

We walked back to Oneroa (another km or so) after buying some great wine there—did a few errands and caught the bus to Surfdale to hit Guinness Happy Hour at Malone’s Irish Pub—I “pulled” my first beer ever—think I might get a job here!:   

We walked a block to Stefano’s Restaurant and had the best garlic prawn pizza and bottle of Montepulciano wine:  

     

They both (wine & pizza) were so good that we booked a table for next Saturday night when the “Fringe Festival” is on and there is a group scheduled to sing that Geoff heard last year when he was here.   Should be fun.

We managed to get home (Stefano’s is about a block away from where we stay) and Geoff watched a Cuban group music video while I fell asleep in my chair!   It was quite a day!

Saturday we went to the Ostend Market and then did our weekly grocery shopping and a bus ride back to Surfdale for a cup of coffee at “In Thyme” that is next to Malone’s.   The coffee was great and we chatted with a local couple about places to eat and go to.   Home and dinner (I bbq’d steak along with bbq’d marinated zucchini slices--for the first time—had them in Florida—to die for!), then we watched “Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” video (I saw it before but Geoff had not yet  and we want to watch the next one out).   We both enjoyed it.

Sunday—sunny and warm so washed and hung out sheets and bbq’d burgers before going to Malone’s for the Sunday night jam session—fabulous music!

This week we plan to go to another winery and check it out.   “Life is Good”—if you don’t believe me…just check out the t-shirt I wore on Friday’s art walk!   J  

  Love, Sue & Geoff xo 
P.S.  We just heard about the latest devastating earthquake in Christchurch and our hearts and prayers go to everyone affected there--hard to believe we were just there a little over 2 weeks ago viewing the damage from the last earthquakes--very sad and heartbreaking news!