A chance conversation last summer at a golf tournament led to an invitation from David van Wely, a Canadian who winters in NZ, to join him at his club as part of our holiday.
The Muriwai GC is on the west coast opposite Auckland and looks out onto the Tasman Sea.
The urban sprawl of Auckland is immense. Traffic volumes have simply overwhelmed the road system and we were extremely fortunate to be heading out of the city while thousands of cars stood still heading the other way. The last half of the drive was a stark contrast. Lots of horse farms and green space complete with the requisite twisty narrow road.
The day of golf was fantastic, even with rental clubs and running shoes, as we enjoyed yet another hot sunny day with the breeze (wind?) coming off the sea and over the dunes. OK it was WINDY at times and it swirled. Very challenging.
And of course what’s a round of golf without a wee nip of birdie juice?
After a well deserved very cold beer we drove a kilometer south to a large Gannet colony. It too provided spectacular views of the birds, the coastline and back towards the golf course.
Our drive back to the city was without incident and as in the morning, the outbound volume of cars was unbelievable. The commute for some people for relatively short distances must be hours. There doesn’t seem to be much if any mass transit or rail service so everyone is in a car. Oh well.
Tomorrow is ferry rides and wine tasting. Can’t wait.
The Bennetts On Tour 