I was up slightly earlier than normal for a work(ish) call, so once that was done I picked up pastries and coffees. We ate and lounged around the hotel room. Lazy mornings aren’t quite as sweet in a hotel, but sweet nonetheless.

The plan for the day: visit Waiheke Island. We walked down to the ferry dock and got our tickets. It didn’t leave until noon so we had an hour to kill. We walked around the area and saw a busy gelato shop advertising their many dairy free flavors. We decided to be spontaneously fun parents and allow a cone on the day before Ice Cream Friday—though mostly it was just because Nick wanted to try an oat-based hazelnut flavor. They were all very very good.

We waited in line and then got on the boat. Millie worked on her reading workbook for the entire 30 minutes, and then after we docked we had to wait for her to finish the last page. She was determined to get through it because last week when she started it, we had incentivized her by saying that when she finished she could order dessert. We didn’t quite think this one through while buying her a morning dessert before the boat. By the end of it she was sounding out sentences and writing simple words. I don’t know if it’s the book or just good timing, but it has all started to click for her in the last week.

Once we disembarked, we went right to the e-bike rental counter. They greeted us with “sorry, we can’t rent to under-12s” which I guess makes sense since e-bikes are basically vegan motorcycles. They pointed us towards the b-bike (basic bike) rental shed, but faced a similar issue there. No bikes for kids, and she’s too big for a seat.

We were disappointed (how nice does riding bikes around an island sound?) but realized we could just take the bus instead. We rode it to our first stop into the island, a winery called Wild Estate. Out of the 40 wineries on the island, we chose this one because it had a playground. This is who we are now.

We ordered a delicious lunch and a wine tasting. We had Wallaby spring rolls which felt wrong, but they were very good. Millie of course made friends with every girl between the ages of 4 and 8. She ran back to our table, took her food, and then ate with a new friend on a lawn chair. Nick and I were able to have a full conversation. This is as close as we get to having childcare on this trip.

We then walked down the road to the only other winery with a playground, Tantalus. Millie ordered her hard earned dessert, a pavlova as big as her head. We all shared it.

The playground was miles away from the service area, so we ended up just having a small tasting and then spending an hour pretending to drink tea made out of sand.

As you can see from the pictures, the weather was amazing and the island is beautiful. This is where the billionaires are buying up land and houses, and I can see why.

At about 5 we started our journey back. Bus to ferry to walk. We just missed the 6pm ferry and had to wait for the 6:30. Nick and Millie played Set. He realized that if we simplify the deck it makes it much easier for her while still teaching her the concepts. She is getting good!

We rode back and then walked back to the hotel. Millie and Nick got into one of those rabbit holes of watching old SNL sketches on YouTube. She loves them and he loves showing them to her. So it was a sort of late night for her, but worth the education.