Day 26: Wandering Down Under

After last night's apple debacle, we opted for a low-key, low-budget affair that had nothing to do with apples. Grapes seemed like a perfect compromise. Some wine might help us forget about it, at least temporarily :)

We hopped on what was supposed to be a 30 minute ferry to Weiheke Island. However, shortly after sailing, there was a medical emergency and we were forced to turn around and switch boats. When we finally arrived, we purchased an all day bus pass and plotted our plan of attack with our newly shortened time frame.

Total newbies to all things New Zealand, including getting used to driving on the left, we didn't know how to signal the driver that we needed to stop and thus had to ride to the end of the route and turn around to pick up another bus in the other direction. Boy, we're just not getting all the breaks down here!

We ended up waiting half an hour for a bus that never came. Whilst waiting, we met a man who had moved from the States to live in NZ. It's amazing what people are willing to share with complete strangers. We learned alot about him during our brief encounter. Realizing that the bus wasn't coming and we were on a short deadline, we split a cab and headed straight to the winery.

After a couple tastings, we found ourselves cozy and content by the fire with some tasty chips. Well we can't say our first 24 hrs in New Zealand wasn't uneventful! Lesson of the day: there's nothing that a good glass of wine can't fix! ;)