Waiheke Island Town Centre

It is an excellent place to discover some of New Zealand's finest beers. At the beginning of our week-end we went on a half-day winetour with Around Waiheke Tours. Then we came across a dozen of confused visitors who had come on our boat at the weekends or others who had been expecting to just run from vineyard to vineyard around this "little" island.

Later, we saw them on the roadside, almost at the same spot where we had abandoned them, after we had made it to the next vineyard and no further. You will be picked up from the Oneroa city centre or from Waiheke and the remainder will be taken in.

At 11 am our travel leader, Simon, collected us from the boat to see the island and try some of our wine. Waiheke Simon was very well informed, prepared for all your queries and an amusing leader. It led us to a viewpoint over Palm Beach and Little Palm Beach (more about this later) with a view of the Coromandel Peninsula in the east.

Afterwards we went to our first vineyard, which coincidentally was also a beer brewer ( "Around Waiheke Tours" also has a beer brewing tour!). Game on Waiheke was a great first! W.o.W. is home to Top Knot Wines, Waiheke Island Browery and many other attractions such as bow shooting and a huge chessboard.

We tried a bottle of child-nay, two pints of ale and a tasty gingerbread (actually I bought $4 to make a flavour of home-made rums and turn it into a dark'n' stormy), and some other home-made cereals. Around Waiheke Tours will pay all the usual cost of tastings, which increases the value of your bookings, but you can also pay more if available.

This is where I and 3 others from our trip, also the "Drunken Oyster", an obscure but delicious one. After a brief trip to Te Motu Vineyards, where we tasted four Dunleavy brand products, learnt more about the Waiheke and New Zealand vinification processes and went for a stroll.

Eventually we went on to our third and last vineyard, the newest on Waiheke, Batch. Whilst the Around Waiheke Wine Tours has a repertory of about seven revolving vineyards, Batch is an audience favorite and always a stop on the road, and it's hard to understand why. We tried four more tasty wine, saw the interior of the estate and ended the adventure to perfection with a glas of sparkling wine on the lawn with views of the town.

After we were put down shortly after 14.00 o'clock again in the city, we made a stopover in the Waiheke Wines Centre, in order to taste still somewhat more aprox. before we made ourselves on the way to the beach. 2.00 o'clock. Waiheke Island's beautiful sandy areas are top-notch. It is only a ten minutes walk from the city centre to the sea.

I' d also suggest Onetangi Strand, an extensive sandy stretch of land with a barbecue area. Or, if you have a little exhibitionista in you, drive to Little Palm Beaches, the beloved dress-surround. The island has many places to stay and it is definitely recommended to stay at least oneight.

There is also an exquisite choice of dishes, from seafood and French fries on the beaches to upmarket offers at the vineyards. Visit Dragonfired Pizzas at Little Oneroa Strand; Island Gelato Company; The Cove, a lovely place with an oceanside feel and plenty of indigenous beers and wines and great cuisine; and Wai Kitchen, with more breathtaking sea view and probably the best lunch I've had in New Zealand.

Goldie, the oldest winery on Waiheke, recently donated to the University of Auckland, is also a winery that is well deserving a name. There is a wide choice of wine and another beautiful hillside to savour. Auckland is a great place to stay, and even if you are staying here, Waiheke Island is the ideal place for a short holiday.

Auckland Tours was the ideal starting point for our journey, and I definitely suggest a ride with them, especially if you don't have much to lose.