Wanderers : New Zealand - Waiheke 🇳🇿

The name Waiheke translates to Cascading Waters. Waiheke is little more than 20km in length, 1-14km in width and 23,030 acres. It is only 17.7 km from Auckland, and 35-40 mins by passenger ferry.

Waiheke is known as the gateway to New Zealand and for a great many centuries has been highly sought after. As a result of this, it has a rich tapestry of migration and history of warfare.

Today Waiheke is more of a haven for holiday and homemakers. The island's tourist popularity is ever-increasing, with population swelling from 9,000 to around 50,000 during the summer months.

The island is so safe that the residents don't even bother to lock their homes or cars. They only have a handful of police and get reinforcements from Aukland during certain busy times of the year. They are primarily used for sobriety checkpoints. This is definitely another place we could live.

What did we do?

Island/winery tour with Waiheke Freedom Tours. Our guide was Onny and he was awesome! It was perfect for us. No bus, just the two of us and we could go to the smaller wineries that buses can't reach. Our first stop at Onera Beach

We did an olive oil tasting at Allpress Olive Groves.

Our first winery of the day was Tantalus Estate.

Onto the next winery Te Motu Vineyard where we also enjoyed lunch.

Another winery but this one is located on a beach and was the furthest one we traveled to, Man O' War Vineyards.

Our last winery of the day was Mudbrick Vineyard and Restaurant.

Random photos from the tour.

Church on Man' O War Vineyard

Passage Rock Vineyard
We didn't get to visit as
they were closed

It was a great long day. We enjoyed all the wines we tried -- some more than others. Highly recommend doing a wine tour with a driver.

Pool

View from Infinity Pool

Sunset

Where did we eat?

Delamore Lodge

Breakfast

Rainbow 🌈 to start our morning

Every breakfast started with fresh fruits, house-made pastries and house-made granola with yoghurt.

Halloumi Brekkie
English muffin, grilled halloumi,
poached eggs, cherry tomatoes, &
roast portobello

Breakfast Quiche
Whipped ricotta, harissa yoghurt,
rocket, & pumpkin seeds

Eggs Benedict
English muffin, poached eggs,
spinach, & hollandaise sauce

Lunch

Delamore Platter

Pre Dinner Drinks & Canapes

Halibut, Chicken 🐔 with sirachi, &
Caprese bites

Dinner

All set just waiting for us

Beef Antichucho with chimichurri,
potato puree, & corn rib paired with
Passage Rock Reserve 2022 Syrah

Halibut with curry sauce, round
beans, roasted onion, & Kumar
crisps paired with
Man Of War Valhalla 2024

Caramel creme dulche de leche with
raspberry cream & waffer paired with
Passage Rock Late Harvest Viognier
Cable Bay 2020 Five Hills (Rob)

The Archive Bar & Bistro located at Mudbrick Vineyard.

The Shed at Te Motu

Yellowfin Tuna
Ponzu & fennel pollen

House-made focaccia extra virgin,

confit garlic, agrodolce

Chicken Liver Parfait with a
Rhubarb & strawberry donut 🍩

Pekepeke Kiore with
native Lion's Mane mushroom &
sauce au poivre

Where did we stay?

When I started looking for lodging, the place I originally wanted to stay at was completely booked. Then I started looking into other places. Luckily, I found availability at the Delamore Lodge but it was only available for two days. We really wanted to stay a little longer, but we took what we could get.

The Lodge is shaped like a Maori fish hook. There are four suites and two apartments for total of 16 guests. We stayed in the Motu (Island) Suite.

Funny story: The place seemed so safe that we didn't lock our door (something we NEVER do). We laid down for Rob's afternoon power nap after lunch. All of a sudden, someone walked into our room. Both he and us were totally startled! Turns out, he entered the wrong room. After that, we locked the door to keep the guests out.