See photos on the right of the page!
Also, this is a map of the area:
Waiheke Island is also called "Auckland's Jewel." It's one of the larger islands in the Hauraki Gulf, and a popular vacation spot for both New Zealanders and foreign travelers.
The ride on the ferry from Auckland to Matiatia Bay at Waiheke only took about 35 minutes. It was a little cold, but I stood outside on the boat, because I really liked the fresh air. Also, the view of Auckland from the boat was quite nice. Even the sun was poking through the clouds - that was great, because it had rained on and off for the last week (a little depressing :P ).
I didn't really have a plan of what to do on Waiheke Island. My travel guide suggested a few guided tours, but they were all a little expensive! So I figured I would either rent a bike (apparently there are good biking trails on the island) or go along some of the walking trails on my own.
When I got to the ferry wharf, however, I talked to a guy standing next to the tourist information booth. He said I shouldn't go on the walking trails, because it had rained so much over the last few days and everything was slippery and muddy.
Instead, he suggested I'd sign on with his tour group...
It turned out that he did offer a good deal. In fact, it almost seemed too good to be true! For 25 NZD, he would take people in his van around the island, for around five hourse (half day). A full day was 45 NZD.
He would stop wherever we wanted, suggest little walkways and trails to do, find us good restaurants or cafes for lunch, and overall give us the best experience we could ever have on Waiheke Island. After living on the island for 32 years, he told us, he knew the best hidden secrets the island had to offer...
Another guy and me decided to give the half day tour a try, and we got on the little van (a Mercedes, as the guide, Max Walker, proudly proclaimed).
From the wharf, Max first took us to Oneroa beach. This beautiful beach is on the North side of the island. Max showed us a little trail leading down to the beach and promised to pick us up in 45 minutes at a little cafe on the road close to the beach. The other tourist, Paul, and I climbed down a cliff on a little foot path and walked along the sand. Since it's winter here, there weren't too many tourists around, and only a few locals, so the beach was almost empty! Two little girls, though, gallopped past us on their horses! I collected some sea shells and we climbed across lava rocks and around a cliff.
Paul, more of an outdoor-kinda-guy than me, suggested we climb up a steep hill back up to the street. At first it looked easy, but it quickly became slippery, and the mud caught in the profile of the soles of my shoes, making them even more slippery. With lots of holding on to plants growing nearby, we made it up the hill (although I really doubted my chances - there were almost no footholds, slippery mud, all at at least 45 degree angles...!). I don't think I will try a stunt like that again anytime soon! Besides a cut in my finger (it stings when I type!), I was unharmed, though - I just had mud all over myself :)
We met up with Max again, after looking through some shops on the street. We got on the shuttle bus, and Max took us to Mudbrick Vineyard, which is on the western part of the island.
We got dropped off on top of a little hill. The view was amazing, and we could even see the skyline of Auckland in the distance, as well as several little islands scattered in the sea.
One of the popular attractions of Waiheke Island are the vineyards. They are scattered all over the island, and many of them offer wine tasting. On our way down the hill, we stopped at one of those, Cable Bay Vineyards, and got to sample a New Zealand Chardonnay for free. Then we walked towards the road and waited for our shuttle to pick us up.
By now, another ferry had arrived at the wharf and Max had picked up new customers. He dropped us (now ten people) off at a cliff near a walkway down to Palm Beach. This beach was on the North side of the island again, but further East of Oneroa.
Our group was very international and diverse by now! There was a Chinese couple, a Vietnamese woman living and working in Australia, a British couple, three American women from Colorado, Paul from Australia, and me.
We took our time looking at the beautiful scenery. Part of Palm Beach is actually an official nude beach, but we only saw one nudist basking in the sun. Personally, I found the wind from the sea quite chilly and was happy about my winter jacket...!
Max picked us up at the other side of the beach and took us a little further East, towards Onetangi Beach. This, according to Max, is the most beautiful of all the beaches on Waiheke Island. He didn't forget to mention that he lives on this beach, himself...
By now, we had all developed a little bit of an appetite (it was 3pm already!), so we stopped at one of the two restaurants on the beach. The tables all had a beautiful view of the ocean - it was really quite charming.
I had really looked forward to a large bowl of fresh salad, but for some reason, their menu lacked vegetables! The closest I could get to a salad were marinated vegetables... strange.
I ended up getting a warm soup instead, because as soon as I sat down, I felt the chilly breeze from the sea :) Paul, and the Vietnamese woman both got pork ribs. They smelled delicious, but the "salad on the side" turned out to be a single piece of lettuce - I am not kidding you!
There seems to be a strange aversion to vegetables on this island...!
After our late lunch, we hopped back on the shuttle to drive to an olive oil tasting. We drove back towards Mudbrick Vineyards, to some kind of "olive tree forest." The area looked quite mediterranean, with low shrubs growing on the ground, scattered groups of olive trees, and the rows of grapevines!
The family growing the olive trees invited us into their home (as in: their living room!) The owners, an old couple (he was Maltese!), explained a little bit of the process of pressing oil out of the olives, and offered us some olive oil to taste. They only had two kinds of plain olive oil, though - I had somehow expected a larger variety.
It was very good, but I didn't buy anything.
By now, it started getting darker outside! We drove back towards the North of the island but we just missed the sunset :(
We still got to look at some fancy houses along the coast, though.
Most of the more expensive houses are actually vaction houses of rich people. Max pointed out the house belonging to the CEO of Deutsche Bank. He and his family visit the island at most two months every year - the expensive house with prime view of the Auckland skyline is empty for ten months at a time!
We made it back in time for the 6pm ferry back to Auckland.
Unfortunately, the ferry stopped in Devonport, and it being dark out, Paul and I just followed all the people getting up and leaving the boat. When we realized that we didn't recognize the ferry wharf at all, it was too late, and the boat had left without us!
We checked the ferry time table, and another ferry was scheduled to come in 15 minutes. However, a nice couple offered to give us a ride to Auckland.
Carolyn and John own a little cottage on Waiheke Island. On the weekends, they park their car for free at Devonport and take the ferry from there to Waiheke. They were so nice to drop me off right in front of Foodtown (I needed to get something for breakfast for tomorrow).
Overall, it was a very exciting day! I don't think I would have been able to see so much of Waiheke Island on my own!
In the end, my half-day tour turned into a full day tour for 45 NZD. I think it was still a better deal than for example renting a bike for 30 NZD. We met another guy, who had rented the bike, and he was unable to walk down to the beaches (he would have had to chain his bike somewhere, climb down the cliff, climb up the cliff again later at the same place to retrieve the bike, etc). Instead, he drove up and down (and up, and down...) the many hills. We, on the other hand, effectively had our own taxi that dropped us off and picked us up wherever we wanted - I'm glad I got to spend my energy walking down the beach and climbing various volcanic rocks!
Max was a little overeager and exhausting at times, because he talked constantly! He is mostly a good salesperson - he really oversold his product at times ;)
Of course, there are also fewer tourists around in the winter, and as the owner of an independent 2-person company offering tours across the island, in competition with the bigger tourism companies that offer more structured, but also more expensive tours, he needs to try hard to get customers.
He also didn't fail to show us his house and the two-bedroom (four beds) apartment he rents out to tourists. I have to give him this, though: the apartment is very modern and clean, spacious, has a fantastic view of Onetangi Beach, and is comparably cheap (90 NZD a night during the week, 125 NZD per night on the weekend).
Call him at 0800-kayak2, if you are interested :P
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