Stills360

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!