We took a ferry ride over to Waiheke Island the other day, after spending a few minutes on the wharf trying to decide on the best destination. The ride itself was quite nice; it takes about 40 minutes to get to the island and there is plenty to look at leaving Auckland.

Once we got to the island we had to decide what to do. Our choices were between sea kayaking, riding a scooter, or riding bikes around the island. We chose the bikes because it would be a fun way to see the island and provide a little bit of exercise.

It was a lot of exercise as the island is hilly, so we were going up a pretty steep hill ever five minutes or so.  We biked over to this beach and took a little water break underneath a tree.

In the end we cut across the traditional loop they had for bike riders.  We shortened the route due to sunburn and fatigue on my part, and missing the first turn we needed to keep going the marked route.  Instead of back tracking to get back to the normal loop we just picks a street and cut across… missing another turn, but in the end reconnecting with the correct streets.  Might not have gone the right way but we still had a fun time on the roads we did decide to take.

Since we cut it short it turned out to be a fun time. I did end up with a decent sunburn and super tired muscles, but all in all the next day I feel fine. I’m glad we did it! And next time? Next time we will do more and I won’t be so tired/unprepared.