Waiheke Island

By CHARLOTTE COSSAR.

Waiheke Island is unquestionably one of the city's jewels. Self sufficient as an island paradise, it provides relaxing scenery and serene entertainment to mainlanders and is a source of pleasure and residence to a growing number (over 7000 at the last count) of permanent residents, as well.

The island is 35 commuting minutes from the CBD and many residents readily make the daily ferry trip to the mainland, taking the chance to read newspapers, books and converse with others.

As one long-term resident puts it: "Waiheke is simply paradise. Merely half an hour from the city, any point on the island is never more than three minutes away from beaches, restaurants, cafes and the friendly residents."

There is a definite cafe culture on the island - and many weekend visitors from the mainland venture over purely to partake of this atmosphere.

As with some of west Auckland's bush suburbs, Waiheke Island has often been viewed as a haven for hippies, tree-huggers and new age practitioners. These people are becoming less obvious, however, as the real estate prices have steadily risen and urban professionals have viewed the location as a premium place to live. As a work-at-home option, Waiheke cannot be easily beaten by many of the lifestyle block areas surrounding the city.

There are renovation opportunities on the island, but rather than villas and bungalows, one has to look at baches. While many old family summer baches have been bowled to make way for larger-scale permanent residential developments, numerous other examples have been converted and added to as permanent family homes. There are still examples of baches to buy, but they are becoming a rarer commodity with the passage of time.

Vacant residential sections are becoming scarcer on the island and buyers can expect to pay top dollar for a moderate-sized section - hopefully possessing sea views.

During holidays and the summer weekend season, the island's population swells to over 40,000 and numerous new facilities have arisen to cope with the increased demand. Of course, the cafes and restaurants have helped to accommodate some of the demand, however numerous other facilities exist.

Abundant arts and crafts stores pepper the island supplying paintings, sculpture and galleries. There are museums, as well. For those seeking physical activity, your needs can be satisfied in the form of kayaking, fishing or 4WD touring, as well as plenty of other activities.

Of course, the past decade has seen ever-increasing popularity of the island's vineyards - including Kennedy Point, Stonyridge, Mudbrick, Goldwater Estate and Miro Vineyards. Most of these provide excellent restaurants and eating facilities as well, giving an excellent day's entertainment at all times of the year.

The real estate prices are currently high - many properties available are in the millions of dollars - lifestyle farms (with large sections) and vineyards are often attached to these properties, however. Vacant elevated sections with sea views are now selling for between $500,000 and $600,000 - possibly more. Bach homes of varying quality could sell for over $250,000. Even smaller, modern, two-bedroom homes in the right location could be upwards of $600,000.