Tuesday, Dec 5. – Full day #6
No time to sleep in today. Gotta hit the road, return the rental and check into our flight. Today we leave the South Island and fly north to Auckland NZ.
So, we get the car dropped off to GoRentals and make it to the terminal with time to spare. As we were checking into our Jetstar flight we were pleased to hear that they only had a “total” weight limit on bags, not a specific bag limit or additional fees for the 2nd bag (just a total weight limit which we fell well under. Wish the US carriers would do this). Now that the bags were checked, we heard overhead that there was a delay to the flight (a little over an hour, darn). So in trying to make the most of it we hit the airport bar Airspresso Cafe and Bar for a little breakfast, a bucket of beer (go Team AA!) and some free WiFi. This allowed us some time to catch up on the stories and get some photos downloaded ( still trying to figure out our upload problem with the blog. we kept getting an error. our pics bounced back for no apparent reason. so frustrating!!).
After an hour or so it was time to board, so we finished our beers, closed the laptop and made it through security. Easy breezy. They even allow bottles of water through security – imagine that! Once on board we realized that only one of our seats was by the window (even though Angela paid extra for us both to have window seats!). We didn’t throw up too big of a fuss…it was only a 2hr and some change flight so Angela got a window seat and Adam took an aisle (Adam was going to sleep so it didn’t really matter where he sat).
View from above of Mount Taranaki.
The flight was uneventful (which is always a good thing) and we landed in Auckland. We grabbed our bags (yes, they all made it this time, hooray!!!), got to the car rental, GoRentals, and actually got our car with no issues and relatively quickly. It was also a bonus that Angela reserved the exact same type as the last one – this one was even the same color! This was good – no new learning for Adam. Driving on the opposite side of the road was enough. We put our bags in and we were off to Northland.
Today’s drive was a 3hr drive to Tutkaka. Off the coast of Tutukaka lies the Poor Knights Islands, our dive destination. The first 2.5 hrs of the drive sucked. We started out battling big city traffic, then road construction (they call it “works”) and heavy loaded trucks as we traveled up the mountain side. At first we were trying to be positive. Then we came clean with each other – we were really regretting leaving the South Island. The landscape wasn’t as magical – the scenery, it just wasn’t as green as we were accustomed to in our NZ experience.
As we got closer to Tutukaka the traffic begin to die down (a little) and the landscape started to change. It started to look much more like a fishing village. We were looking forward to arriving at “The Cabin” at our AirBnB The Lighthouse Lookout. We decided to drive straight to the place to get settled in, then grab some dinner. We were soooo happy we did this.
The drive to get there was off the main road up a single line drive that had a few gated driveways connected to it. Finally, as we got to the end of the road we saw our sign to turn left down the drive. What a driveway this was. There were manicured flowers on either side of the split paved tracks and even some beehives off to the left. As we pulled up to the house our jaws dropped.
The main house was sitting on the top of the cliff overlooking the crashing waves with beaches on the sides. As soon as we pulled up we were greeted by the owner “Susy.” She set the tone of the land perfectly. Relaxed and welcoming. The Cabin was not connected to the main house but was about 150 yards aways. Susy gave us the tour of the cabin and I’m not sure neither I nor Angela listened to one word she said. We were still in shock at the shear beauty of this place. We’ll just let the pictures do the storytelling, because words just cannot do it justice. Needless to say, we were ecstatic to be staying here for 2 consecutive nights.
Our patio. This view… completely set away from the main house, we were in complete privacy. Soo romantic!
Once Angela and I were able to focus and embrace the totality of this place we opened a bottle of wine and gave cheers and thanks to this amazing venue. (The property can be booked as a wedding venue.) After a little exploration of the land we knew we had to head to town for a little dinner.
To give you a better idea of the beauty of the property of Lighthouse Lookout:
Looking up towards the main house.
Looking out in the distance – there’s the Poor Knights Islands we will dive!
Adam taking in the views after first arriving.
Red wine and paradise? Yes, please! (that’s a happy face. completely forgot about work – this is a TRUE vacation.)
There’s actually a little lighthouse over there on top of that hill (hence the name of our place, Lighthouse Lookout)
While we were staying at the Lighthouse Lookout there was a full moon, actually a “super moon”…this created higher than normal tides, called a King Tide. These especially high tides eventuate when a new or full moon occurs at the same time as the moon is at its closest to the earth (in its perigee).
More info on King Tides, if it sparks your interest: http://auckland.kingtides.org.nz/about/what-are-king-tides/
As per the suggestion of our gracious hostess, we headed down the mountain to a local place called Schnappa Rock. Another positive – we discovered that this was the same place we were to check in the morning for our scuba diving trip. It was only about a 5 minute drive and the restaurant set overlooking the marina. The vibe was somewhat tiki’ish with a slight upscale feeling…more Hawaii-feel than Gilligans tiki hut.
Being as hungry as we were Adam quickly ordered a starter of Toasted Ciabatta as we both glanced at the menu. Just after we ordered our main (Angela, the catch of the day; Adam, Lamb medallions) the starter came out. And wow!!! The appetizer offered 2 thick pieces of fresh, warm Ciabatta bread, with a healthy spread of local Goat Cheese and garden-picked green and yellow heirloom tomatoes with a few slices of red tomatoes on the side drizzled with locally produced olive oil – only to be topped by fresh micro basil from the restaurants garden. The taste, the texture, the freshness can only be described as PERFECTION. Once the starter was finished the waitress brought us our mains. I really don’t know what else to say about these but Angela and I looked at each other – we were shocked we weren’t in a 3-star, Michelin-rated, high-end restaurant. These dishes were cooked to the perfect temperature. The sides were fresh and complimented the meat to the tee. There were no corners cut in the preparation of these dishes. Even in some of the top restaurants in the states you would not find a better dish.
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Toasted Ciabatta – Whipped goats cheese, basil & vine ripened tomato with Quail ridge olive oil.
Seared lamb back strap served with gourmet potatoes, carrot puree, summer vegetables and red currants.
Fish of the Day – Hāpuku
After the delicious meal we were excited to head back to the cabin. With the waves crashing against the cliffs and the cool breeze of the New Zealand coastal air, we finished off the rest of our bottle of wine that we left, tucked ourselves in under the mosquito net and drifted off to sleep.
Tomorrow was a big day for Team AA. ZZZzzzzZzzZzz…
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