an extra wonderful day

The view from Mudbrick Restaurant in Waiheke Island


We had the most glorious day yesterday - should have a 40th anniversary every day. We nearly missed the ferry to Waiheke Island though- not being familiar with downtown Auckland we had trouble finding parking as roads were closed because of the christmas parade and when we did find one it wouldn't take notes only coins and the credit card part wouldn't work so there we were frantically doing a u-turn to find another park and parting with credit card into a machine (don't think I have ever paid for parking with a credit card before) and running (yes me running) to catch the ferry.

The weather was glorious - you could not have asked for better and we were given extra special treatment with the best spot at Mudbrick Restaurant, a lovely waitress and extra special treats including a welcome bottle of champagne from Grant - thanks Grant - you ahd us come over all teary. Here we are toasting you.

This is my entree - scallops and crabmeat - after that we forgot to photograph any more food or even our ruby wine. the chef ent out little treats and the waitress was adamant we should have desert and we knew there was another surprise coming up - a Cloudy Bay latepicked from Annette and Terry - thank youboth so much - no pics but we toasted you both.
The view from our table to the sea beyond. We think this is one of the most special places in the world - in the distance you can Auckland and Rangitoto and the Hauraki Gulf - lots of lavender close up and olive trees and manuka and the pohutakawa trees just coming out into bloom.
Looking back up to the restaurant from outside- the ultraviolet rays must be stronger here than in Perth as Ian managed to get a very sunburnt head and he was only outside for about 10 minutes.
Looking back up to the restaurant - we bought a couple of bottles of Pinot Noir so we can enjoy them back home.

I should add that we started the day watching the All Blacks vs England in the morning and a bonus for Ian was to watch the replay at night and this morning read all about it in the paper! When we got back to our apartment it was still lovely and warm and we went for a long walk around Newmarket.