About 1 hr ride by ferry from Auckland is the beautiful Waiheke. A day trip to Waiheke is what we needed to console ourselves after disembarking The Pacific Pearl cruise.

Another gorgeous view during our drive in Waiheke

Getting here

There are hourly ferries to Waiheke from Auckland and the tickets cost $35 NZD return as of end of December 2011. The ferry ride is lovely with beautiful sea views.

Going Around

We hired a car to get around this island. There are car hires in the ferry wharf and these guys rent the car on hourly basis too! But I suggest spending atleast a day or two in roaming round the island and enjoying its diversity.

Attractions

Waiheke is popular for its diversity, it is a beautiful island with a great wine trail, lovely beaches and loads of activities to do.

Wineries
It is not called “The island of wine” for no reason! The wine trail is beautiful. The vineyards have beautiful cafes and lovely views and the wines are lovely too! The only thing that I dont really like is the paid tastings here. Especially having come from New South Wales where wine tasting is totally free in Hunter Valley region, this was a bit new and odd to me, but I get the point of people misusing the free tastings.

A lovely winery in Waiheke

The vineyard “Wild on Waiheke” has taken the concept of vineyard to an extra step with Archery there! It is so much of fun with archery, brewery, wines and some awesome Pizza! A must visit over there! We especially loved their vegetarian Pizza, the Syrah and their own “Hauraki Gulf Ginger Beer”. We bought ourselves a case of them to carry on with us for the rest of the trip! So much of fun, this vineyard is a must visit.

Archery at Wild on Waiheke

Lovely Beaches
The lovely beaches here offer distinct water views with beautiful marine blue and sea green colours of the water. You cannot miss the beach here! Either just walking by the beachside or playing in the sand it is a perfect spot to just chill out and unwind.

Bird Reserve
The Onetangi forest and bird reserve provide a perfect feast for the nature and bird lovers.

Activities

Walks and hikes, cycling and sea kayaking are the popular activities in the area. The walks and hikes range from an hour return easy graded walks to more difficult walks. Sea kayaking is pretty popular and we have also see people jet skiing, thought we could not find any jet ski hire places through out our drive.

Kayaking!

Recommendation

Waiheke, being so close to Auckland, still preserves its gorgeous nature, the forests and the birds, beautiful beaches and provides loads of activities catering for people who want to lazy around and just chill to people who are super active and want that little bit more in their holidays!

Just beautiful

Cant believe this amazing place is only an hour away from Auckland and I would definitely recommend either a day or a weekend away!

Cappadocia region in Turkey is one such place on this earth which is stunningly beautiful and mysterious both above and under the ground. The days are warm and the nights are cold! Such a mysteriously exotic place.

We had our base in the Cappadocia Cave Resort in Uchiser. Since Nevsehir is the main city and the main centre in the region, to travel using public transport, you will have to catch a bus to Nevsehir from your base town and then catch another bus to your destination town. With time being our major constraint and we had one just one day to see the underground cities at Kaymakli and Derinkuyu and also do the hike at Ihlara valley which is about a 100Kms away from Uchiser, we decided to hire a taxi to cover the areas.

The underground city at Kaymakli is the widest one in the region, while the one at Derinkuyu is the deepest.

Underground city in Kaymakli, Cappadocia region, Turkey

A few sections of the cities are open to the public and they are by far the most beautiful I have ever seen under the ground. It is relatively cold inside as you go under the ground. Both the cities include a bit of crawling, vertical stairs but are not too physically challenging anyway! It just adds to the adrenalin rush!

Murali and I in Kaymakli underground city in Cappadocia region, Turkey

The cities, built to hide from the armies invading for slaves and loot, typically have living rooms, kitchens, storage, cellars, churches, large stone door to seal from inside and it was totally mind blowing to learn that thousands of people used to live in these cities taking refuge or for religious reasons. A nature’s wonder combined with the human effort resulted in these cities!

We then headed off for a 4Km bush walking and hiking to Ihlara valley, one of the most beautiful riverside bush walking I must say.

The riverside bush walking at Ihlara valley, Turkey

Gorgeous Melendiz river, stunningly beautiful valley with the rough mountains surrounding, lovely wild birds chirping it is definitely a chance to indulge into the nature. The walk itself is easy to moderate, so very well suited for beginners as well. There is no hard tricks to be played, and only takes about 2 to 3 hrs even if you play at our leisure. The cafe right next to the river half-way through the walk, serving Cay (Turkish tea) and gozleme is a beauty. There are also numerous byzantine churches along the walk. So history mixed with nature’s beauty.

Ihalara Valley, Turkey

The drive from Uchiser to Ihlara, which is about 100Km would take about an hour for turkish drivers! Must say, no one follows the speed signs over there and I dint notice even 1 speed camera or a highway patrol! The drive when getting closer to the valley, becomes more exotic and beautiful with the snow capped mountains alluring at the distance.

Beautiful snowcapped mountain views, towards Ihlara valley, Turkey

I hear, from the locals, that winters are cold and beautifully full of snow and in the area! I am so much going there back in winter, for my love of snow!

Turkey is really exotic and diversified in terms of its food, culture, land scape and people! Right from the day of planning, Turkey was a must to see in our list and I am so glad we could make it.

As we had very limited time, for Turkey, we decided to check out Istanbul and then hit Cappadocia region, which is famously known for its fairy chimney’s, the underground cities and the beautiful hikes.

Fairy Chimneys in the Cappadocia region, Turkey

From Istanbul we took a Pegasus flight to Kayseri airport which is about an hour drive to Uchiser which is the highest point in Cappadocia region. We stayed at the Cappadocia Cave Resort, it being the last leg of our trip, we decided to indulge ourselves in a bit of luxury. The drive from the airport to the resort had been amazing with beautiful and distinct views of the region.

The distinct town views in Cappadocia region, Turkey

We checked into the resort at about noon. While having lunch, we were thinking of how to go and where to go. Probably one of the things I quite din’t like about Turkey is, the hotels try and encourage you to book tours (for obvious reasons) instead of letting you explore the region on your own. We faced this issue in both Istanbul and Uchiser. Right at the time of check-in, while asking for maps and info, we straight told the resort management that we dont like tours and would love to explore the place ourselves. Cappadocia cave resort guys had been super understanding and offered all of the info that we might need.

We quickly discovered that to navigate in the region you either take tours and guides (a big NO was our answer to it) or public transport or hire a car/cab/scooter. Guides and tours can be arranged by the hotel/resorts. For easily navigating in the region using public transport, Nevsehir is the major city. There are connecting buses to this city from different smaller towns like Uchiser, Goreme, Zelve etc. But with literally a day and a half  in our hands and so much to see, we couldnt possible be changing buses and spending hours for connection buses.

Murali on the scooter in Cappadocia region, Turkey

So we chose hiring a scooter, which was cheap, quick, easy and fun way of transport. It costed us about 20 Euros per day. The resort helped us in the hiring process. The guy came to the hotel and gave us the scooter.

At around 2pm we hit the road on a 125cc scooter. You would think that figuring the way would be hard. But wasn’t! The awesomely friendly people and the signage everywhere on the main roads made it extremely easy to find places.

First stop Goreme. Beautiful little town with lovely people. We visited the open air museum which is on the UNESCO world heritage list and is also the world’s biggest open air museum. The area consists of the rock cut churches and wall paintings which are as old as 10th century. It speaks a lot about the prevalence of christianity in the region, before the rise of Islam.

At Goreme Open air museum, Cappadocia region, Turkey

A combination of the nature’s wonders with history and religion!

We then hit the roads again towards Zelve. Stopping in between in the small towns for  cay (turkish tea), gozleme and ayran in the homes on the sides of the roads.

Cay, the turkish tea

This is one of the most amazing and heart touching experiences I have had. Sitting on the divan with the turkish family, sharing a laugh and having gozleme, while totally not understanding each other’s language and hence trying to communicate in broken english and gestures! WIN!

Having Ayran sitting in a Divan with a Turkish family at Zelve, Cappadocia region in Turkey

Zelve has another open air museum. But we were nearly done for the day so we decided to skip the museum but instead talk to the locals and slowly drive our way back to the resort.

The entire drive is full of panoramic views, historical churches and lovely cafes and restaurants. So having a scooter did help us to stop wherever we wanted and get a pic!

Murali and I in Cappadocia region, Turkey

Hot air ballooning early in the morning is a very popular and a must-do activity in this area.

Hot air ballooning in Cappadocia region, Turkey

The beautiful early morning sun light, the lovely fairy chimneys (hoodoo) and the beautiful landscape, watching from an altitude, the hot air ballooning in this region is a must-do and definitely worth the spend, which is usually around 175 Euros per person, depending upon the flight.

Getting there

To get to Cappadocia region, you can fly in to Nevsehir airport if you fly Turkish airlines, the other airlines like Pegasus fly into Kayseri. You can then take a private taxi or a shuttle cab from the airport to your hotels. The hotel/resort can book the private taxi, but the shuttle cab can be booked online and is heaps cheaper.

We did a day trip in San Sebastian. Such a lovely and romantic city I must say. They have the best tapas, gorgeous beaches and the best of all, the most awesomely friendly people. Spanish sounds so beautiful too and yeah I am learning it once I am back home. By now you must have realised that I am totally in love with this country.

We started off our trip with the old city. There are no lockers or left luggage in San Sebastian main train station. So we had to walk a couple of kilo metres with our backpacks to the tourist office to enquire. The internet cafes in the old city charge you a minimal 75 cents per bag per hour to keep the luggage. So we finally found a temporary keeper for our luggage.

The old city is full of small streets with cafes, tapas bars, apartments with balconies full of flower pots, Santa María del Coro, and only 5 minutes to the beaches.

We took one of our friend’s advice and hit the tapas bars and tried one at each bar. This culture is different to what you will find in a restaurant. You can eat just one and move on to the next bar, just like a drink in a bar Luv luv luv the food here. I am a vegetarian, so while my hubby says that the chicken tapas were awesome, I had an obsession with spanish omlette, Mushrooms, Patatas Bravas! Yumm.. and its cheap too! Compared to all the other countries we have been so far in Europe, i,e.. France, Belgium, Swiss and Netherlands, Spain is relatively affordable.

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Did I mention Sangriya? It is the most popular Spanish drink and to my surprise everyone makes this drink so different. I tried this in quite a few bars in San Sebastian and also in Barcelona and it tasted different at every place. But I think it is based on red wine, fruit punch and rum. And I just love it! Fruity, a bit sour with the lemon slice in it and very fresh served on ice! My kinda drink

The Church of Saint Mary of Assumption built in the 18th century is a must see with its magnificent altar in the interior and rococo style facade in the exterior.

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The main altar inside the church Basilica of Saint Mary of Assumption has 4 Corinthian style , chamber of Our Lady of the Choir and a magnificient staircase. Definitely a must see.

In just about 5 minutes walk from the Chruch and the old city, lies the beautiful San Sebastian beaches. Lovely sand beaches for families and couples too.

There are surfing schools through out on the beach and also the people dont seem to mind the girls going topless to get a good tan!

You can also spend a couple of hours walking round the city, checking out the traditional constructions and buildings like the city hall. The old city can be exceptionally  beautiful in the night. So dont miss it out.

We also met a couple of locals who offered suggestions and help without us asking them. Such friendly and lovely are the Spanish people.

luv luv luv them and the country.

From Interlaken, we decided to go to Jungfrau, the top of Europe which is at a height of 3574m. The ticket normally costs 200.00 CHF (Swiss franks) per person, but since we have a swiss pass we got the ticket for 126.00 CHF. The ticket includes the return to the top of the mountain and we were told that it is full day’s affair as each way takes about 3 hrs.

We took the morning train (8:52am) to Interlaken OST and headed off to Jungfrau, the top of Europe.The train goes to the top in two directions, Grindelwald or Wengenwald. So we decided to take both the directions in each way. So while going up we took the Grindelwald way. You have to change the trains thrice, but it was all easy connections and since the trains past Grindelwald are all narrow gauge, there was only a single way up there and the train was always ready and waiting for the passengers. So you don’t lose any time in waiting for trains.

The whole journey, which is extremely uphills, is full of awesome views. I think the most exciting bit was the North Face of Eiger.  The trains stop at a couple of stations for 5 minutes, letting the passengers to get off the trains for toilets or pictures and to hop back on.

Once you reach to the highest station, you can get off the train and stay for as long as you like. The last train down is at 5.30pm. There are a couple of good cafes up on the hill for a nice meal or a hot coffee and there is also a Bollywood cafe.

The most important attractions atop aside the snow sports are the ice palace, the ice plateau, the highest point, the Aletsyglacere (I think the English equivalent nomenclature of this is Alex Glacier).

The ice palace is full of ice sculptures and is extremely beautiful (and cold in there). The walk in the snow beside the Glacier towards the restaurant is just beautiful. The views from the highest point are breath taking and I must say, no matter how many pictures we took, with one of the good cameras we could afford (Canon 5d Mark II), they were still no way as beautiful as to what we were seeing.

Whilst I love snow and the hill tops, the walk on the snow, glaciers, snow sports are always exciting, I think the fact that I have seen the infamous Eiger mountain and its most popular North face is the most memorable bit for me. I totally intend to watch “Eiger sanction” movie again once I head off to Sydney. If you haven’t watched it yet, then you must watch it, Eiger Sanction movie (a Clint Eastwood film) 

We heard and read a lot about Golden pass train and how awesome it is, so we made sure that we allocated sometime for it.

Switzerland does a few ‘passes’ which are scenic train journeys from some key stations. The most popular ones are:

• The Golden Pass
• The Glacier Express
• Bernina Express

We had time only for one pass, so we chose Golden Pass for its popularity and for all the recommendations.

After our trip to the Castle at Chateaux de Chillon we went back to Vevey and then headed off to Montreux. The normal golden pass trains run through Vevey but the Panoramic Golden Pass trains start at Montreux and head off towards Interlaken and then Luzern.

Panoramic Windows in Panorama Golden Pass Train, Switzerland

The Panoramic trains have huge windows and windows on ceiling too which makes the journey with the views thoroughly enjoyable. The windows can be pulled down to peep out and enjoy the fresh air.

Valley views from the Golden Pass train, Switzerland

The whole of the train journey is scenic and goes by from the beautiful valleys and pristine alpine views. The snow capped mountains add extra beauty to it.

Swiss Alpine Views from Golden Pass train

The whole journey is half a day’s affair and we used it as a medium for transport to our next pit-stop, Interlaken.

Vevey is another beautiful town that is on the lake-side. The lakeside setting of the town if awesomely beautiful. It is lined up with restaurants, hotels and hostels. Such a picturesque setting to have breakfast or to sip a drink in the dusk.

The town itself is really small and there are very limited number of hostels and hotels. So booking accommodation early on is definitely recommended. We dint book the accommodation and did have to pay through the nose for it. Well, atleast we found a place to stay for the night

It was quite late in the night, may be about 10.15, by the time we reached Vevey and found an accommodation. Most shops in the town close at 10pm. City Burgers in the town centre was the only shop open and we had falafel roll over there. It was tasty and the serving was quite big. So had an awesome dinner that night.

There isnt many attractions in the town other than the town itself, for its beauty and elegance. The main attraction at this place is the castle at Chateaux de Chillon which is about 20 minutes ride by bus 201. The castle was built in the 13th Century and its location is definitely the best. A picture says a 1000 words. So, here is one

The castle "Chateau de Chillon"

The castle is located on the lakeside with beautiful water and alpine views. I can find no words to describe the beauty of the view It took about 3 hours for the entire trip to the castle and back to Vevey. And the buses are quite frequent.

Just for its scenic beauty and the castle, Vevey is definitely worth the time if you have half a day.

From Vevey we then headed off to Interlaken but taking a Golden Pass train. Stay tuned for that post

Lausanne is only a 35min train journey from Geneva. This is a must-see town. It is in different levels. The lowest level is on the banks of the Lake Geneva. We got off the train at the Gare and then caught a metro to Ouchy which is the part of the town that is on the banks of the lake.

Park in Ouchy near Lake Geneva

The lake and the alpine views from this part of the town is just stunning. Beautiful snow capped mountains, lovely lake and beautiful garden gives you a serene feeling.

The Olympic museum is only about 5 min walk from Ouchy station. Best place to learn the history of olympics. Both audio-visuals are available. Exhibits like shoes, swim suits, bikes from different olympic games winners are also displayed.

Olympic Museum, Laussanne

The record breaking high jump  pole is also displayed here. For the sports fans this place is a must-see.

There is also an arts museum that is definitely worth a visit.

Catch a metro back into the town to see the Cathedral and also to wander in the streets of Lausanne. Its a beautiful little city that is so different to Geneva or to any other cities you might have seen because of the tiers of the city.

If you are a shopping chic then this place is yours. 5 min walk from the cathedral across the bridge you get to a, what i call, A Shopping Street.

Shopping in Laussanne

It is full of branded shops and all expensive stuff. But if you are looking for non-branded inexpensive stuff, then Lausanne is not your city for shopping. Eitherways, the walk in this street is interesting, as you walk downhill and it is especially beautiful if you walk around sunset time.