Just another Waiheke Saturday

Here's a bit of a photographic essay for you: a summer Saturday on Waiheke. What to do? Well, having collected today's visitors from the ferry, first stop was Ostend Market, where the locals come for gossip and to shift some stuff, and tourists come to eat crepes and toy with homeopathic remedies and to buy second-hand books. Which were being sold at, cannily, apparently bargain prices, as above. There was a little girl scraping away at a violin, peering at her fingering and not achieving anything like a tune - or, sadly, any money in her open case. I bought the latest in my lifelong quest for the perfect sunhat (which has already failed, both drooping and and being blown off my head. The search continues...).

Then we visited the little museum, which we'd never been to before, and I was charmed by its eclectic mix of artefacts, although some of them were alarmingly familiar. It's never good to see stuff from your childhood in a museum. Apart from the main building which housed a fascinating collection of stuff, there were little baches from all over the island relocated and furnished either as homes or themed displays. The medical one with the kidney dish holding a stainless steel speculum was especially riveting. Outside there was an actual longdrop, carefully explained, the description ending with 'Display only. Not for use'.

Then it was lunchtime, so we went to Cable Bay for a delicious meal that we regrettably miscalculated, thinking entree and pudding would do us well. Here though, alas, the entrees were proper, traditional, actual entree size, so my meltingly tender pork belly with crunchy popped barley was tantalising rather than satisfying. We should have listened to the waitress. Never mind, the accompanying rose was lovely and the pudding equally delicious: gingerbread icecream, raspberry sorbet, cherries, chilli chocolate and hokey pokey. A glorious melding of flavours. Yum. My mouth is watering again just writing this. Our only mild complaint was that the wind blowing through the open doors was a bit cool, so we had to go outside afterwards onto the lawn with the lovely sculptures and sprawl on the beanbags in the sun for a while to warm up again.

Then we went back to Onetangi for a swim, my second of the day might I mention, which was very pleasant, the water having warmed up heaps since we first arrived. Five days of hot sunshine will do that, you know. There were family parties and dogs and couples and old people, all enjoying the soft sand and gentle waves and clear water. Our friends had to catch the ferry back home to the city then, and we were all amazed as we went through Oneroa at how chokka the bay was with boats. Car park!

And finally, we fetched up at Little Oneroa for a delicious Dragon-fired pizza to eat with another glass or two of rose beside the beach watching people play with frisbees and balls in the water, and at the end feeding the crusts to the seagulls, pleased at succeeding in giving plenty to the bird with only one leg (there's always one with only one leg) and having others take bits from my fingers. What a lovely day!