Waiheke Island Hotels
Near the Northern tip of New Zealand is Waiheke Island. The first thing I ever do when I’m researching travel is I go to Google Earth. You should too. It only takes five minutes to install and then you can go anyplace on the globe just by typing in something like ‘Waiheke Island Hotels’ into the ‘Fly To’ gadget. Whenever you are researching an island, the hotels generally cluster in certain sections of the island. This is because islands tend to have a section which is populated, and an area which is wildlife refuge so the island doesn’t get completely destroyed by high-rise hotels.
You can also see how much of the island is covered with houses, this way, and also see whether the Waiheke Island Hotels are right on the bay, or way in-town. In case you’re not used to using Google Earth, just click once with your left mouse button on any little blue square to see a photo from that location.
This also tends to tell you whether an island is noted for it’s views. If there are no little blue squares, then it tends to be a spot which is more into things like windsurfing, fishing, snorkeling or other water sports.
I love throwing Google Earth into 3D mode. You do that by going close to the surface of the island, but not too close. Next, you click on the scroll wheel and pull towards you while holding down on the scroll wheel. This will allow you to see if the surface of the island is mountainous, or flat. Once you’ve got it at the angle that you need, roll the scroll wheel towards you to back off and away from you to go closer.
From the map, since the main airport is nearer to Onetangi Beach, you might consider getting a place there. There are some Waiheke Island Hotels along that beach, such as the Dunes on Onetangi Beach and Onetangi Beach Apartments, which gets four out of five stars out of 38 reviews. If you click on the indicator, you can go to the Panoramio interface which will show you many shots from that beach line where you can see how beautifully blue-green it is. Onetangi road borders the ocean, so you can drive right along it.
Other things you might see when you’re there are the Victoria or Waiheke Reserves. Also, Orapiu Road can take you far out into the island wilderness. It goes as far as Orapiu on the South end of the island.
Stony Batter Reserve, up in the Northeast side of the island was built to defend the island. It’s now owned by the New Zealand department of Conservation (the DOC). It serves as both a historical and nature reserve. It contains unusual rock formations and bush blocks.
A very strange thing that you can see from Google Earth is the Waiheke Light Hole, just to the South of that point you can see photos of the Hauraki Gulf and Waiheke Bay.
You could find some really out-of-the-way inns at the South end of the Island such as the Te Whau Lodge which gets a whomping five stars out of five stars for 13 reviews. You can’t beat that.
So, if you’re looking for an interesting, lovely place with good views and friendly people, consider Waiheke Island Hotels.