A day trip to Waiheke Island was on my short list of “must see” things in Auckland. I picked the day that had the best weather forecast (knowing of course it could change) and booked a tour through Viator with Waitiki Tours (https://www.viator.com/tours/Waiheke-Island/Full-Day-Tour-of-Waiheke-Island-including-Wine-Tasting/d32653-42682P1?medium=social-share-copy – their direct website is https://www.waitikitours.co.nz/pure-waiheke-tour). Our guide, Nicky, lives on the island and knew so much about the area. It was also a “small group” tour with a max of only 6 people (which is why I chose it) – and it ended up just being Chris and I! So that was pretty awesome.
We had pre-booked a ferry for the morning so we headed down to catch our ferry … I was so focused on watching the boats that I smacked right into one of those metal posts to keep traffic out. Highly do NOT recommend doing this!! A month later (when I am finally catching up on these blog posts) and my toenail is still blue underneath. Ouch! Thankfully the rest of the day was uneventful in that respect (and I was also really glad this was AFTER the marathon and not before!).
We did get mimosas on the ferry and had pretty amazing views of Auckland and the other islands in the bay. It’s a 40 minute ferry ride so I had a chance to recover a little before hobbling around the island.
When we got off the ferry we were a little early so we walked around a little … and found this sign about “meat free Mondays” right next to a hamburger ad. Not sure if that was intentional but it was pretty hilarious. Also lots of cool art around the ferry terminal (and around the island itself).
We met our guide, Nicky, and headed out for our tour. This was a wine tasting tour but included a lot of sights around the island too. The first stop was Oneroa Beach – the island is so beautiful!!
Our first winery stop was Postage Stamp Wines (https://postagestampwines.co.nz). The grounds were so pretty and we even got to see a family of ducks with their ducklings. The wine was excellent too!
Next up was Batch Winery (https://www.batchwinery.com). The wine was good and wow what a view! We had lunch here as well – we wanted to try a couple different things on the menu so we ordered 2 different entrées and shared them. They were both good but the seafood linguine was over the top good!
We then had some wine out on the terrace to enjoy the stunning views.
As we were leaving, I stopped by the bathroom and had to laugh at this great taxi company name! Glad they’re ensuring everyone gets around safely after wine tasting and if we didn’t already have a ride, I totally would have called “Wai Not Taxis” based on the name alone.
Lots of great views around the island – so hard to pick my favorites!
Our last stop was Mudbrick Vineyard (https://mudbrick.co.nz/). This also had great views and was the largest of the 3 wineries we tasted at.
After the tasting we walked up the hill for some really spectacular views.
After a great day touring the island and wine tasting, our guide dropped us off at the ferry terminal and we headed back to Auckland for the night before flying to Cairns the next day. See you back in Australia!
