Golfco Pictures has renamed “TONGNEWY 2023” to “THONGNEWY” to acknowledge, in a cheeky Ozzie way, the enormous contribution made by the indigenous of Tonga to Australian Sport (TONGA to “thong” the footwear of true Ozzies) combined with the promotion of tourism to the island of Niue (pronounced “new-ay”) hence the comic name of this adventure and future comedy documentary...
You can only fly to Niue from Auckland New Zealand on a Tuesday so I chose to head to Auckland on Saturday 17 June 2023 and make the 3hr 20min flight to Niue on Tuesday 20 June 2023 so I could visit a good friend on Sunday.
I landed in Auckland at 2pm and by the time I checked into my downtown hostel single room with tiny bathroom (a splurge for me !!!) I only had time to buy wine, cheese and olives for the next three days here and visit the Ferry Terminal to confirm sailing times to Pine Harbour the next morning to visit my friend Vaughan Grant and his family who live in Beachlands (a very scenic outer suburb of Auckland). Vaughan was the Woolworths Project Manager for a project that I managed with him and worked on with my brother Nick way back in 2004-2005. Vaughan and I got on famously (agreeing) and infamously (arguing) which explains why we keep in touch to this very day !!! This is proof of my definition of a successful IT Project – one in which client and consultant can be the best of friends 20 years later !!!
I enjoyed my first beer in NZ, a Hazy Pale Ale at the old Ferry Building in Auckland Harbour. It was brisk that evening and my hotel was only 5min walk away and next to the iconic Queen Street, which contains the majority of heritage buildings in the city. Auckland city is well serviced with at least 3 Woolworths Supermarkets, which are called COUNTDOWN here !!! Same logo and colour and interior. Wine and beer is sold INSIDE the main supermarket in an aisle alongside the other food items.
The following morning was cold but the sky was cloudless so I headed straight for the Sky Tower, a 328m (1,076ft) tall structure very similar to our own Sydney (Westfields) Tower and a little higher since it was built afterwards. The view from the 220m high 60th floor 360-degree observatory is terrific. The scene greeted me with a huge rainbow over the south making my opening footage of Thongnewy something to talk about. The good news was that I was the first and only person up there at opening time – a ploy I always use to get free range on photos and film. From here I headed to the ferry and my timing was great – clouds started to roll in – I had made it – getting Auckland under sun instead of cloud.
The ferry out to Pine Harbour took 35min over 23km reaching a whopping 40km/h. A very wise and sophisticated looking Vaughan was waiting on the wharf – last time I saw him was in 2010 !!! Suffice to say we had mountains of news to catch up on. The drive from the ferry to his house was a few minutes and Beachlands featured large modern homes set against the harbour. It was great to see Vaughan’s wife Corina and see the much grown-up version of their three children, the youngest had not yet been born when Vaughan and I worked together. Vaughan showed me around his on average 50% solar powered home – huge rooms, open plan kitchen-dining-living as big as my unit !!! Vaughan’s pride of place was his music room complete with full high-end audiophile sound gear controlled by a special Linux box set up by Vaughan as a self-proclaimed geek. The next 4hrs were absolute bliss. Fine food, fine wine and even finer conversation. We feasted on chicken liver & butter pate smeared on home-made bread followed by a melt-in-the-mouth lamb, bean and leek bake. The wines were mainly NZ Pinot Noir with a Cab Sav guest star. The three kids and one of the boyfriends were the true stars engaging with us in though-provoking conversation covering politics, economics, social media and the current NZ, Oz and global issues. A truly memorable afternoon topped off by a drive to the local beach and washed down by a cool pale ale at the ferry terminal. I was saddened to part ways again with Vaughan and his family and look forward to the next installment – hopefully not that far in the future.
The next morning was tour day for me starting at 9am and ending at 5pm. For the first half of the day I rode with 14 others and we visited the main attractions of Auckland city and the surrounding north shore hoping on and off a van. I visited the following places: Victoria Park, Auckland Harbour Bridge, Mt Victoria, Devonport, Narrow Neck Beach, Marine Precinct, Queen Street, Albert Park, Auckland University, War Memorial and the Winter Garden. My favourite was Mt Victoria and the 360 view of the city popping out of the morning mist and the surrounding harbour and volcanic islands shimmering in the rising sun. Devonport was also a highlight – an old charming seaside enclave across the water from the CBD much like Williamstown in Melbourne.
In the afternoon I hoped on another van and joined a couple with their son to visit three wineries in the Kumeu Wine Region just 33km west of Auckland. The Kumeu Region was the first wine growing region in New Zealand established in the 1960s by Croatian immigrants to Australia. Soljans Estate Winery was on of the first wineries and still run by the fifth generation of the Croatian founder. We enjoyed 8 tastings before adjourning to a lunch of Croatian Cherup Sausages. The Kumeu Region is very green and fertile but the outer suburbs of Auckland are fast encroaching on its doorstep and has indeed replaced some of the older wineries with housing and commercial property. Auckland is in fact the 5th largest city in the world by area since it is all houses and spread out with only 1.6 million people. Our second winery West Brook Winery was also once owned by a Croatian who retired and sold it to a Chinese family. This winery overlooks gentle slopes with pine tree plantation in the distance. Another 8 tastings dominated by New Zealand’s specialties of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinto Noir. Coopers Creek was our last winery and this was a little older with a charming brick cellar door with giant fireplace. What I liked about this winery was the three new grape varieties that I tasted for the first time – one white and two red. I was so consumed by the wine tasting that I forgot to take photos or film of the wineries so apologies for that. I hit the sack hard and early that night given all that wine and the 5am rise tomorrow for Niue…
I do not normally talk about my flights or even the airport but in this case I must. Auckland International Airport is by far for me the best airport I visited to date. By “best” I mean its efficiency. I flew Air New Zealand to Niue and their check-in is 100% self-serve with assistants and therefore lightening fast. The check-in kiosks are laid out in rows and you just walk up to one, No queues. You insert your passport and a boarding pass and luggage label is printed out !!! Attach the label to your bag, walk it over to the belt and put it on. Done. Just when you thought it could not get better you arrive at immigration and there are still no queues or officers. Passport readers and photo machines lined up. Walk up, scan your passport, take a photo and walk through. I went from Uber to my gate in 20min flat. Amazing. A world record. And that's not all !!! I boarded the Air New Zealand A321neo and I sat down in my seat to be greeted by a WELCOME JOHN message on my TV screen !!! Not to mention plugging in my phone and powerbank to be charged. Not only can you run your laptop for ever but there is FREE WIFI the entire flight !!! This actual post comes to you from Air New Zealand Flight 936, 38,000ft above the Pacific Ocean about one hour short of Niue – see you there !!!
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