Quick Details
A tasty day of food and wine in Matakana home to one of the best loved farmers markets in Auckland area (only on a Saturday). You will enjoy the feast that is both eatable and visually with the mouth-watering produce of the area from organic vegetables to fresh oysters out of the shell. Views of the fertile countryside and coastline this is an area that has help New Zealand become a Mecca for foods & wine with its farm to table attitude and knowing where your food came from.
It’s an easy 1 hour ride north of Auckland to Matakana and the Hibiscus Coast. The tour includes scenery of white sandy beaches, large Kauri trees and farm animals. Matakana has a growing reputation as one of the best kept secrets of the locals food blows in the country, let your taste buds be the judge it’s a must see.
Some of our guides are beekeepers in the area and have hand-picked our day tours to ensure you see the ‘best on offer in the greater Matakana area. It will be a memorable day you will enjoy in an area of unspoilt countryside, indulging in distinctly local flavour.
We not only lead you to some great places to eat seafood but swim and snorkel with the fish in a Marine Reserve. In the same area you can sometimes see live kiwi birds at night (Ask about options).
Heading north, across the Auckland Harbour Bridge, the landscape starts to change in to rural small life style farms and beach’s with their outer Island dotted along the way.
Try a healthy choose of food & wine honey, cheeses, yoghurts, wine, seafood, chocolate, ice cream and organic blueberries to choose from.
We not only lead you to some great places to eat seafood but swim and snorkel with the fish in a Marine Reserve. In the same area you can sometimes see live kiwi birds at night (Ask about options).
We have our own Manuka beehives we stop pull a frame of comb out of the hive for you to taste and later in calling into the Honey Centre to try Honey Wine called Mead, This is the very wine monks made some 20,000 years ago. Manuka and Kanuka are part of the Maori medicinal cabinet but the trees have white and pink flours the produce wonderful strong Honey. The unique properties of manuka honey have been turned in skincare and giftware, or simply enjoy a drink beside the pretty ornamental pond.
We call into Puhoi following the river up the valley to the small village of Puhoi a place local flock to on market day and to the Puhoi Helot one of the oldest in the area. Settled in 1863 by Bohemian settlers with the help of local Maori, the village retained its quaint atmosphere with its historical local store, church and said to be the world’s smallest library believe it or not.
We take an easy Bush walk in a grove of Kauri trees, one of the larges in New Zealand and explore sights & sounds wonderful scent of th kauri forests as it was before settlement. Learn about New Zealand’s famous trees and vegetation we explain how plants have been used in the past generations of the settlers.
At Matakana we see local culture around food with lots of tasty treats for entrepreneurs of the area. This has turned region in to a hub of thriving artisan food and wine producers. Matakana is full of boutique shopping, potters, Painters, Photographers, art galleries, local crafts, food and wine and one of the best Saturday farmers markets in New Zealand. Pottery made by locals and area clays are used to craft beautiful, pots, wall art and sculptures, many with a uniquely local theme. By now its lunch at a Cafe in Matakana or Warkworth.
We head to the small town of Warkworth, whave you can have fish and chips by the river or take a stroll along the river-side boardwalk of this historic town. The rivers and waterways in this area were important in colonial times when transport was easier by water than by road. If its Chocolate you like we stop at Chocolate Brown, Warkworth’s award-winning boutique chocolate maker with hand-crafted chocolates made from quality ingredients, great gifts to take home.
New Zealand is well known for Sheep farming and SheepWorld Farm and Nature Park, is the itinerary. Great for young and old your will learn about New Zealand farming and get up close to a some of animals with an entertaining live-action sheepdog display by a local sheep Shepard and professional shearers. During the display you can try your hand at sheep shearing or feeding new born lambs.
The Farmyard area you can feed the friendly animals, interreacting with calves, pigs, lambs and goats and a number of exotic species like alpacas, emus and the Australian brush tail possums considered a pest in NZ.
Our journey takes us past well established Oyster farms, evidence of the region’s emergence as a major seafood producer. If you like we can arrange an optional Bloody Mary’s tasting with a live Oyster on the beach. We go off the eaten track to visit the picturesque inlets of the Mahurangi area. Stopping at clifftop lookout to enjoy views and take photos of the coastal areas, inlets and Mahurangi peninsulas. We visit hidden beautiful bays around Mahurangi, as well as regional parks beach well away from the crowds yet only an hour from Auckland.
From Puhoi we head south back to downtown Auckland.