A week in my life, part one: Auckland and Waiheke Island

Introducing a new weekly series where I outline a week in my life, including activities, eats, drinks, and whatever else that comes to mind! this past week was spent in auckland and waiheke island, so if you’re planning to visit either of these places, you’ve come to the right place.

This post summarizes February 3rd – 9th.

favs of the week:

all the details:

Activities

• Hiked Rangitoto. Took the ferry over to Rangitoto, one of the volcanic islands near auckland, and hiked to the summit / walked around the island for a few hours. Pretty views, but there are better hikes nearby imo.
• Spent the weekend on Waiheke island! we had the best time winery hopping and enjoying all the views. full breakdown on my waiheke island post!
• Tyler childers concert. Such a fun concert and so fun to see all of the kiwis so into his music! his opener, willi carlisle, also had a great voice and a fun personality.
• Appointment at valet nails. Ok this may not really be an “activity”, but this salon was pretty unique. I believe this salon is relatively new, but I saw it when walking by it one day and then again on Tiktok, so had to give it a try. It was extremely clean, offered ipads to watch shows/movies during your appointment, the staff was friendly, and most notably, they had the cutest dog roaming around. amazing manicure, but the color I got is def different than what I asked for (classic).

Eats

only including those worth mentioning here 🙂 but I will say this was a gooood week of eats between Auckland and Waiheke Island, so the list may seem kind of long.

• bruschetta and watermelon mint salad – Saint Alice. literally summer in a meal.
• chicken schnitzel – saint alice. This order felt incredibly random, but so happy we got it.
• sandwiches – gloria’s. omg. the perfect post-hike treat. The foccacia was soooo good. I had the deli sandwich and clay had the dill chicken.
• burnt butter chocolate cookie – gloria’s. no notes!
• Heirloom tomato papardelle and seared beef – Ortolana. The pasta was definitely different than others I’ve had with it’s heirloom tomato / citrus combo. beef was cooked perfectlyyyy.
• an entire breakfast spread – Arcadia. the cutest little cafe in Palm Beach on Waiheke island.
• Truffle parm fries and whipped lemon ricotta – man o’ war. the truffle fries were the best thing I ate this week. When i tell you these were both insane. Especially with a bottle of man o’ war’s rose. *chef’s kiss*
• Lunch spread – Te motu. we honestly ordered so many things here because everything sounded amazing. The coconut milk hopper, a sri lankan dish, was super unique and flavorful, their bread with dips was divine, the burrata was to die for… i could go on and on.

drinks

coffee, alcoholic, etc!! only those worth mentioning.

• Soda bar – Barker’s cafe. This was such a fun concept!! there were a number of barker’s syrups available that you’re able to self-pour and mix with still or sparkling water. you can try as many flavors as you want, too! and the best part – it’s complimentary.
• Cocktails – ortolana. They don’t actually name their drinks, but we essentially had a spicy strawberry margarita (Strawberry, chilli, lime, mezcal, tequila, agave) and a carajillo (Espresso, licor 43, reposado tequila, spiced syrup). so good!!
• Pals. My new fav seltzers!!! I need to find a way to bring these to America. They are so much better than white claws, nooners, trulys, etc. they’re the perfect level of sweetness and have such fun flavors (e.g., pineapple and lime or red peach and yuzu).
• Allll the wine on Waiheke. We didn’t dislike any that we tried, but special shoutout to man o’ war’s chardonnay and rose and te motu’s rose and chilled red!
• Iced coffee – the palm beach store. I have no idea what they put in this, but it was one of the better iced coffees I’ve ever had.
• iced Tiramisu latte – Cosmo Coffee. this was as good as it sounds. more about Cosmo Coffee on my mission to find Auckland’s best cafes!

stay tuned for part two <3

I hope you enjoyed reading allll about Auckland and Waiheke Island. More week in my life content to come! if you have comments or questions, please let me know below.