Ziplining, Wine Tasting, Olive Oil Tasting on Waiheke Island

Booking

I had furiously booked a day tour for my only full day in Auckland the day before while on the SkyBus from the airport after I realized I didn't have any solid plans, and I should get out to see the sights rather than spend the day in Auckland.

After doing some browsing on the interwebs (sheepishly from my phone while on a rattling bus), I decide that doing a full day combo tour from Auckland would be the best idea. Generally in the past I've preferred a self-planned and self-guided tours, but as you get older and you have less time (and supposedly more money but that is yet to be seen ), you would rather have someone else do the busy work/driving and perhaps learn a thing or two along the way.

I settled on a ziplining, wine tasting, and olive oil tasting day tour departing from the Auckland ferry terminal. While not an inexpensive day tour (around $200 USD all-in), at least I had the peace of mind that I'd get to see quite a few highly-rated sights, taste some NZ wine, and do something to get the adrenaline going. My thought is that if you only have one day somewhere, you might has well try and get as much in as possible, and sometimes it's difficult to do this on your own.

After confirming my details, a friendly agent at EcoZip Adventures (highly recommend them) sent me a confirmation email -- I used this email to pick up my ferry tickets at the Fuller's desk at the ferry ports the evening before as I was already on my stroll around town.

One note -- EcoZip handles the ziplining excursion portion, while Fuller's handles the rest of the day. You can also opt not to do the ziplining portion and instead purchase the olive oil/wine tasting portion only from Fuller's. Hopefully I am making sense here.

My initial hesitation to book this as a solo-traveller was quickly overcome by the realization that my cost to actually be here was quite high in terms of time and money, and that I better make the best experience out of it even though I was solo in Auckland.

For anyone who ever travels solo: be thankful for this amazing experience and don't hesitate to do things you would do if you had a companion. Don't hesitate to dine alone or book a tour alone -- most of your inhibitions are probably self-inflicted, and this is one of the many humps you will get over. You will most likely always end up not regretting it, and I would argue being solo gives you an opportunity to meet fascinating people.

Ziplining High Above New Zealand
We really lucked out on the weather. I boarded the 8:15am ferry from Pier 2 in Auckland bound for Waiheke Island. The ferry was pretty much deserted today, except for perhaps 10 other people.

Pulling into Waiheke Island and disembarking, a friendly EcoZip driver named Josh greeted myself and another couple. We picked up 2 more pairs of zipliners and continued our way up one of Waiheke's small mountains. EcoZip is located on the 2nd highest point of Waiheke.

Apologies I have little pictures of ziplining (no phones!), but to give an idea.





Again, we really lucked out on the weather as it was forecasted to be gray and rainy the entire day. But instead it was sunny but still cool.

Our lovely guides Cici, Gabi, and Rene accompanied us on the 3-line tour to the bottom of the mountain. Great views.

As a note, you can also hire a GoPro for $39 NZD (which I did take advantage of) and EcoZip will give you your own 8GB microSIM with all your content to take home. I normally wouldn't have done this, but given I had forsaken my GoPro at home, I decided to splurge (does anyone recall my comment about having less time and even less money as you get older? this is probably the root cause).

EcoZip's system is a dream -- some ziplines require you to slow yourself down with gloves or some other braking mechanism. EcoZip's lines have a system of magnets that automatically slow you down at the bottom, so essentially all you have do it sit there.

After we reached the bottom we did a nice bushwalk back up to the main building.



An awe-inspiring "white basket cage" fungus growing on the rainforest floor. Absolutely incredible. Apparently these are the common, pedestrian fungi and there are even more incredible ones if you search hard enough.



Vineyard Lunch and Wine Tasting: Stonyridge

After our bushwalk, EcoZip dropped our group off at Stonyridge Vineyards where 3 of us would be continuing on Fuller's Taste of New Zealand tour.



Nice, smaller property. Patio lunch area.



Their deck which converts into a morning "yoga deck."



No grapes or leaves being the middle of winter.



Corner of the tasting lounge. The owner is heavily influenced by Asian culture as he is a master yogi.



Here's the vineyard lunch, which consisted of a chicken quiche, green salad, and some bread/cheese.



I was less than impressed, but at least the quiche was hot. One downside about being in a tour group with meals included is that the meals tend to be of that variety -- off-menu items that are catered for large portions (and usually lower quality) unless you have specifically booked a food tour.

Alas, I could not find a combo foodie tour + ziplining + wine tasting + olive oil tasting, so I will settle for 3 out of 4.

One last look out on their dining area.



Olive Oil Tasting at Rangihoua Estate

I had really been looking forward to this after sampling The Village Press olive oil from Hawkes Bay on my previous Air New Zealand flight.

Rangihoua Estate apparently has won quite a few accolades (including best in class in 2016) since spinning up their olive oil production. Fun fact is that Stonyridge (the winery above) also grows olives on their property but sends them to Rangihoua for processing.

You can definitely tell it's low season -- no buzz here; we were really the only group.



House cat -- Ollie? Living the life here.



Olive oil tasting.



Personal care olive items being sold.



The herb spread we did sample (in the middle) and it was delightful. It's simply olive oil, herbs, and salt. That's it!



I really enjoyed the olive oil and the whole olive oil process was explained to us as well, as well as a quick tour of their facilities. Again, we were on a tour so it seemed like everything had been customized specifically for tour groups as us, which seemed to detract ever so slightly from the authenticity of the experience (as sometimes you sort of wonder how many of these schpiels they do a day), but nonetheless it was still enjoyable getting to see the Waiheke Island olive oil production.

I almost purchased a 100ml bottle to take home with me, but then the logical side of my brain argued against my heart, and won with the argument that my quart-sized baggy was already full, and if I wanted anymore than 100ml I would need to check my bag

Food and Wine Tasting at Casita Miro

Next stop was one of the smallest wineries on Waiheke: Casita Miro. Their vineyard is on one of the steepest slopes of Waiheke and this is actually an advantage, we learned, since the direct morning sunlight helps the grapes ripen well.

Still a family-run business, son George led us up to their Gaudi-inspired tasting area above the main glass pavilioned-restaurant (which is beautiful, by the way, and I'd love to return for a proper meal).

There, wine and food tastings were waiting for us.









We sampled:

• A 2015 dry rose paired with housemade bread and housemade red pepper pesto (fantastic)
• A 2016 Sauvignon Blanc with grana padano
• A 2014 blend of Syrah and Viognier with red wine kalamata olives
• A 2009 fortified red (similar to a Port) with walnuts glazed with the same

Overall, a nice experience (though I still am not a fan of fortified wines) with an excellent host (George) who definitely weaved in his own personal story from growing up in his dad's business to helping run it now. Again, the cynical side of me wondered how long the food and wine had been sitting there in the sun, but my heart told me to just enjoy

Again... this is "winter."



Tasting at Mudbrick

Last stop of the day: Mudbrick. This is a gorgeously-manicured hilltop property with sweeping views of Waiheke and some seriously great staff.







Cafe and restaurant (how they started, apparently).





By this point I was slightly inebriated already so my commentary here will be short. I did however, recall my self-made mental note to return here in the future and try the restaurant -- I hear it's excellent. And oh -- the views were stunning.

We did not have a lot of time here as we had a schedule to stick to (one of my other nitpicky criticisms of tours, sometimes you can feel rushed) in order to make the ferry sailing back to Auckland.

Luckily the drive down to the port was a short one, where we boarded the ferry back to the mainland.

Nice views upon reaching Auckland during golden hour (my favorite time of day).



The Hilton Auckland, right on one of the piers.



Overall, a wonderful experience. Of course, keeping in mind that this is an organized tour so some parts have been streamlined or specially customized for this purpose. I would definitely like to return and independently explore at some other point and spend a little more time at each spot. I would like take a stroll through a few of the small towns on Waiheke and immerse myself in the island culture just a little bit more. The people are friendly and the scenery just gorgeous.

The combination of perfect weather (and probably some of the wine as well) really made Waiheke shine. Again like I mentioned in previous posts, you don't really come to New Zealand to see the cities, you come to see the beautiful landscape that kiwis are keen on preserving (and thankfully so!). I loved the laidback vibe and friendly attitude of everyone I met here. I would go as far to say that I much enjoyed Waiheke over such places like Napa and Sonoma -- those have become slightly too commercial and uptight as of late, and no longer maintain the chilled, family-owned affair that is many Waiheke wineries. I really hope it stays this way here, but the creeping allure of tourism dollars does seem to put down its roots already -- a blessing and a curse as I'm sure I would not have been able to experience this without that!

Next up: AKL – NRT in Air New Zealand J on the B787, ANA Business Class Lounge NRT