Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island is in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, 17.7 km (about 35 minutes by ferry) from Auckland. Of the Hauraki Gulf islands, it is the second-largest (after Great Barrier Island), the most populated and the most accessible by regular ferry and air services. Waiheke is the third most populated island in New Zealand, after the North and South Islands.

Related Topics:
Hauraki Gulf - New Zealand - Auckland - Great Barrier Island - North - South Island

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The island is 19.3 km long from east to west and varies in width from 0.64 km to 9.65 km, with an area of 92 km2. The coastline is 133.5 km including 40 km of beaches. The port of Matiatia at the western end of the island is 17.7 km from Auckland and the eastern end is 21.4 km from Coromandel. It is very hilly with few flat areas, the highest point being Maunganui at 231 m. The climate is generally warmer than Auckland with less humidity and rain and more sunshine hours.

Related Topics:
Matiatia - Coromandel

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There is a permanent population of around 7,000 residents. Waiheke Island is a popular holiday spot. During the period around Christmas, it is said that the population on the island can swell to over 30,000 people, although the elected City Councillor for the island says this number is not backed up by any statistical study, and came about when a prior Community Board was asked to come up with an estimate and they did, pulling the number out of the air. It is safe to say the population increases significantly, rents go up, almost all homes and baches are full and a festive atmosphere exists.

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Waiheke Island is part of the territorial authority of Auckland City. From 1970 until its amalgamation with Auckland City in 1989, it was administered by the Waiheke County Council. It has less infrastructure than mainland Auckland City. Each house must maintain their own water supply, most collecting rainwater in cisterns, and install a septic tank to handle sewerage. The community established a charitable trust which bid on the City's contract for solid waste disposal. They won it, and implemented such a successful recyling rate on the island that the recyling centre had to be expanded to handle the volumes.

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Socially the island is highly diverse, although gentrification is having an impact. The island ranges from people living on the bottom of the earnings (or public benefit) scale to some of the wealthiest people in New Zealand. Some of the people earning little are well-educated and have voluntarily chosen live simply. Curiously some the wealthy show a similar choice, some live on the island because they get to live simply and not attract attention. The creative sector is highly represented with many artists, musicians, scientists, writers & poets, actors and eccentrics. There is a high proportion of people who sailed to New Zealand on sailboats and probably more ex-Greenpeace campaigners per capta than anywhere else in the country. Race relations are unusually supportive, even for New Zealand standards. The local marae was not ancestral M?ori land held in Maori title but belonged to the Waiheke County Council. Its citizen, both pakeha and maori, got together, arranged for a long-term lease of council owned land, and built the marae. Also one of the earliest maori land claims was driven by Waiheke citizens, who at the time did not know who the Tangata Whenua maori were for the island. A detailed narrative of this history is available on the Waitangi Tribunal website in pdf form http://www.waitangi-tribunal.govt.nz/reports/northislandnorth/wai010/chapt05.pdf

Related Topics:
Gentrification - Marae - M?ori - Pakeha - Tangata Whenua - Waitangi Tribunal

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