Island rambles

We spent the morning booking most of our rooms for the trip and confirming what we already had with Mike. We are not seriously jet-lagged although eager for some physical activity. We have an amazing assortment of accomodations lined up - from a YMCA in Christchurch, a few youth hostels in the south island, to the traditional motel/hotel rooms. We also have a B&B lined up on our last night called the "Giant's House" in Akaroa. But more later...
We took our first tramp to a local beach during an unusually low tide. Supposedly Capt Cook landed there to take in water during his exploration of NZ. We then visited some local friends of Mike's who run and B&B with a drop-dead view of the bay and Auckland.
We then proceeded on a real bush tour of the island bumping along dirt road to various beaches. One special lookout point on the western edge of the island provides a view of most of the gulf islands ( The Great Barrier, Coromandel Peninsula, etc.) and Auckland harbor. This is truly a sailor's dream.
We ended up at one of Waiheke's winerys for dinner after nixing a few other choices. For some reason pork bellies were on the menu at a variety of places. We graciously declined, hoping for some local fish. After inquiring, we discovered those pork bellies are exactly what you think.
As we arrived back to Mike's in the pitch black, it started to rain hard.