BeachBum Bus Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island, also known as the island of wine, is one of those Islands in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf that people tend to miss.  When backpackers visit Auckland they sometimes forget about the Islands and what they have to offer.  This is also partly because it isn't always obvious that you can visit the islands and exactly why you might want to visit them.  To many Waiheke Island is just about wine tours and for most, half day wine tours are not always a backpackers first choice of tour, especially when you are on a budget.  All this is about to change though because the BeachBum Bus has arrived to bring Waiheke Island to backpackers.

It's no secret that I love wine and so for me visiting Waiheke Island is like visiting paradise island.  What I wanted was a full day out away from work and the city that involved tasting nice wine, but one that wasn't too expensive.  This is where the BeachBum Bus came in.  It was going to give me the Waiheke Island Experience.

It really is a full day out.  At 8.15am with coffee in hand we boarded the ferry for a refreshing half hour trip through the Hauraki Gulf to Waiheke Island.  You get a sense of Island life from the moment you get off the ferry, everyone is smiling.  Especially Dan, the BeachBum Bus guide and driver.  Dan is a local who lives on Waiheke Island so you can't really get somebody more in the know really.

"The BeachBum Bus is a tourist attraction in itself..."

The BeachBum Bus is a tourist attraction in itself, with 70's retro upholstery, tinted windows and Dan's eclectic music taste.  A short drive before stopping in the only real town style village Waiheke has to offer for more coffee, an Atm stop and a trip to little Oneroa beach.  This is when you wish you had the money to live there.  It is also the moment you realise that Waiheke Island isn't all about wine tours, there are some seriously beautiful beaches too.

Moving on we stop at the supermarket to stock up for our BBQ lunch later on that day.  We also happened to be visiting Waiheke Island on a Saturday so we stopped at the local Farmer's Market.  It's a proper Island market so mixes professional market stalls with a car boot sale. Cakes are amazing!

The BeachBum Bus isn't all about sitting on a bus for a day and seeing the sights through the window, there is walking involved.  Nothing too strenuous but enough for you to see the natural life Waiheke island has to offer.  It's pretty interesting too learning about the plants the Maori use for clothes, jewellery and of course, medicine.  Just because your a beachbum for the day doesn't mean you can't learn anything.

"Wild on Waiheke to taste wine or beer..."

Wine time, or beer, if you prefer.  We head to Wild On Waiheke to taste wine or beer.  The tour gets you four tastings and that is plenty to give you an idea of how good the produce is on the Island.  The advantage of visiting this place is the free bread and dips tasting.  Just thinking about it is actually making me salivate.

The whole point of this tour is so that people get to see the whole of Waiheke Island and it delivers, we then head over to the other side of the Island, Orapiu Bay, to have a swim, chill out and have lunch on the beach.  We were pretty much the only people on the beach.  Sadly we can't stay here all day and we head to Man O' War Bay and Stoney Batter for another walk to the World War II bunkers and tunnels.  Yes, that's right, Waiheke Island played an important role in fending off the Japanese during the war.  Waiheke Island really is a surprise. 

With the culture side ticked off the list we head back to the beach.  The beauty of this tour is that you can hop on and hop off like any other backpackers tour so you can actually stay on the island and make the most of the incredible beaches, wine and cakes.  Unfortunately we couldn't stay overnight but we dropped off the other lucky backpackers at Onetangi Beach, a stretch of amazing sand complete with restaurants, bar and cafe.

Our final stop was Palm Beach, a little more isolated and so peaceful.  Palm beach also hides a little secret in the form of a nudist beach around the corner for anyone interested. (Make sure you read my Top 10 Tips for Nudist Beach Etiquette if you do visit the nudist beach!!) Waiheke Island really does cater for everyone.  We did finally get the ferry back to Auckland where it started raining just to prove a point.

Waiheke Island is much more than the wine island, even though that is still very cool, it is an experience.  In one day we got our fix of wine tour, history and culture, activity and stunning beaches.  Just watch out for those She-raffs.  For backpackers, or anyone to be honest, wanting the full Waiheke Island experience without straying off budget, the BeachBum Bus is the only one that can give it to you.

Cheska Bennett