This one's for all you wine lovers out there. To be honest, I didn't think such an Island existed untill I found out about it after a year of traveling Australia. It certainly wasn't on my bucket list.
Where is this Island?
It's very close to Auckland - New Zealand and nothing like the city. It's amazing how little distance you can travel to see such a big change in scenery and atmosphere. If your curious what there is to do in Auckland by the way, I previously wrote a post about my visit here:
How do you get there?
Since it's an Island, the only way to get there is by boat unless your rich in which case there's an small airport. Bad news if you get sea sick like me. But it's really not bad at all and the journy is about 30-40 minutes or so.
How big is it?
92km (squared)
19.3km (long)
With a population under 8,000
Before I even stepped off the boat, I immediately noticed a difference. The water was turquoise and looked clean and clear unlike what you see at the docks in Auckland.
It's quiet there, there's a steady flow of traffic on the island and best of all. No traffic lights!
What do you do there?
Visit the Vinyards
This is the number one reason people come here, regardless whether you like wine or not. There are plenty to see, you can book a tour or go and explore yourself. Some are walkable and close to the accommodation but others you'll definately need a ride. We hired a cute little car and took a drive which I highly recomend.
The Beaches
There are so many beaches and coves on this Island, it really is a pleasure to walk the many coastal paths overlooking the bays.
One in particular reminded me of Australias Whiteheaven Beach called Onetangi.
This is Waikeke's longest beach and has beautiful white sand all the way along.
Of course there are many great spots on this Island around the coast and it would take me forever to name them all so here's a few snaps of what to expect.
As you head further east you'll see some vinyards, the wine on this Island is some of the best I've ever tasted and I'm no wine expert, nor am I a massive fan. But this place was by far my favourite in terms of wine.
The red wine is especially good here.
On a nice sunny day, some of the eastern coast is trully stunning in terms of colour.
Overall, Waiheke Island is well worth the visit if you are staying in Auckland for a week. Most people think of using Uackland as a base as I did and this is one of the many places you can visit that really isn't that far away at all.
This post was tough for me to wright as most of my experience on the island wasn't captured on camera. I also visited twice, first in a hostel and second was couch surfing. The two experiwnces were nothing like each other.
Unlike most people today, I was living the moment rather than just looking at my phone the whole time. But as I visited more stunning places, I couldn't help but capture them on camera.