We arrived at Auckland bus terminal (on 6th October) earlier than expected so we walked down to the ferry port with our luggage and booked ourselves onto the 2pm ferry crossing to Waiheke Island and then went for lunch to waste some time before the scheduled departure. This was our penultimate day in New Zealand before we move on to Australia.

During lunch we decided to make a reservation at a hostel (before we boarded the ferry) knowing that we would have somewhere to stay as there are only 4 hostels on the island with one of those being a farm. When we spoke to the hostel owner he told us that he would not be back at the hostel until 4pm so we would have to wait an hour or so in the hostel lounge after we arrived.

The 35 minute ferry journey was very pleasant as we looked out from the top deck with a refreshing wind blowing. When we arrived on the island we took the local bus into town and saw a few shops and cafes but they were near to closing for the day. After picking up a map from the Information Centre we noticed a winery within walking distance. So with 60kg of baggage between us we set off for the walk. The map turned out to be a little deceiving as the walk was >1km. To make matters worse it turned out to be mostly uphill !!!

After a bit of strain we arrived at the winery and sat outside tasting many different wines. It was cloudy and a little windy but we thought we would make the most of our last full day in New Zealand before heading to Australia. Sitting in a winery with a view of Auckland in the distance seemed the perfect option.

After spending almost 2 hours there we  booked a taxi to take us to our hostel. It was now 5pm so we wouldn't have to wait in the hostel lounge as the owner would be back.

We got out the taxi and realised that we were out of town and would need another taxi to go out for dinner that evening. Nevermind we thought as we walked down the stairs to the hostel. Our first view of the hostel threw up a few alarm bells after we past a few trees followed by a load of copper pipes, a kitchen sink, washing machine that had been pulled out of the building and loads of other rubbish. We walked in and were then greeted by a bunch of greasy workman who had finished for the day and were now getting hammered on cheap beer and alcohol. We had a little banter with them but soon left to explore what was on-site. We walked into the gruby untidy lounge to find another greasy workman snoring! We then had a peak at the kitchen that looked as though a bomb had hit it. It was going from bad to worse.  

We continued looking around but could not find the owner. It turns out he had still not come back to the hostel. Despite this, we decided to give him (and the hostel one last chance) so sat in the lounge. After seeing more drunk builders we looked at each other thinking the same thing........let's get the hell out of this place. At 5:45pm, we did just that. Still no sign of the owner who should have been there at 4pm!!!!!

We walked down the road for about half a mile and saw an open backed truck pull up on a drive. Mark asked the guy if we were going in the right direction for a cafe/ restaurant as we were now pretty hungry and thirsty. He pointed us in the right direction and then got engaged in a discussion about our travelling. We continued chatting until we got to our hostel disaster on the island. With that he insisted that he drives us to the restaurant and said he would come back to the restaurant in about an hour to take us to a different hostel. We couldn't believe it. What a nice guy. We didn't go to the restaurant, however, given his insistance, we got into his other vehicle  and went on a journey across the island to find another hostel. Not content with his kind gesture, he then embarked on a longer route to the hostel and gave us a tour of the main sights on the island with full commentary. He had just arrived back home from work and was now giving two unknown tourists an island tour. We were speechless, especially when he offered to take us on a fishing trip on his boat if we ever returned. Anyway, we finally got to the hostel which was a converted army barracks. After dumping our bags we took a stroll to the empty beach in the fading light and were then able to find the one open bar serving food. After a nice dinner, we walked back to the hostel and went to bed. It was an early start the next day as we needed to get across the island, jump on a ferry to Auckland and then get from the port to the airport. We managed to do this without any hiccups and were soon sitting on the Emirates flight.......destination Melbourne, Australia. As we left the runway, we looked at each other and smiled. New Zealand........DONE !!!!

We look forward to keeping you posted on our further travels as we enter the land of cork hats, bbqs, surfing, Crocodile Dundee, Koalas and boiling hot weather. Australia, chuck another shrimp on the barbie, we are heading your way :-)