Waiheke Island Information | Waiheke Island History | About Waiheke Island | Waiheke Island Places to See

It is New Zealand's most densely populated island, with 83.58 people/km², and the third most populated after the North and South Island. It is the most accessible offshore island in the Gulf, due to regular passenger and car ferry services and some air links.

Waiheke translates as "the descending waters"or "ebbing water"

This refers to an event when Maori explorer Kahumatamomoe landed on the island and urinated.

The name originally referred only to the stream at Onetangi, but now is used to refer to the entire island.

Waiheke has several locations of interest to geologists, namely an argillite outcrop in Omiha Bay and a chert stack at the end of Pohutukawa Point, the latter considered as "one of the best exposures of folded chert in Auckland City".

Beaches

Waiheke Island has many scenic beaches all around the island. They include:

Oneroa Beach - The main beach, located along the northern side of the town of Oneroa
Little Oneroa Beach - A small secluded beach at the east end of Oneroa Beach, separated by a protruding cliff wall.
Palm Beach - Similar in shape to Oneroa Beach (complete with protruding cliff wall on the east end that separates a small private beach in Boatshed Bay), it gets its name from the mature phoenix palms at the east end.
Little Palm Beach - A small clothes-optional beach at the west end of Palm Beach.
Blackpool Beach - The south-facing counterpart of Oneroa Beach, lining Blackpool and popular for kayaking and windsurfing
Surfdale Beach - A zoned-in beach on the southern side of Surfdale, separated from Blackpool Beach by a small protruding peninsula, which has a scenic unsealed route called The Esplanade linking the beaches. Popular for kitesurfing.
Onetangi Beach - A 1.87 km long, north-facing beach lining Onetangi. For many years it has been the site of the Onetangi Beach Races. Its western (and often inaccessible end at high tide) is clothes-optional. It has sandcastle building contests annually; participants have a few hours to build their creations in soft sand which is free of shells and suitable for digging.
Cactus Bay - Considered by many Waihekeans as the island's most perfect beach and, with nearby Garden Cove, a romantic place for picnicking. The beach is accessible only by boat or kayak, as its land access was blocked off by a private landowner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiheke_Island

TRANSPORT TO WAIHEKE ISLAND

Main Passenger Ferry

A number of scheduled ferry services (passenger and freight) sail to and from Waiheke.

Fullers runs the main passenger ferry, with trips taking 35 minutes from downtown Auckland.

There are various air connections including Air Discovery, an aeroplane service based at the privately operated Waiheke Island Aerodrome (NZKE) near Onetangi Bay, and a number of Auckland helicopter operators that charter to the island.

The island has less infrastructure than mainland Auckland. The roads are mainly narrow and in many places unsealed and unlit, especially on the eastern half of the island.

The Waiheke Bus Company (owned by Fullers) services most inhabited parts of the island, linking to the ferry sailings from Matiatia.

Each house must maintain its own water supply, most collecting rainwater in cisterns, and must install a septic tank and septic field to handle sewage. This is a requirement in every building consent.

Waiheke Island Information, Waiheke Island History, Waiheke Island Places to See, About Waiheke Island

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