Waiheke Island Tours

Waiheke Island is an island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, located about 17.7 km away from Auckland.  The island is the second-largest in the Hauraki Gulf after the Great Barrier Island. It is the most populated, with nearly 8,000 permanent residents plus another estimated 3,400 who have second or holiday homes on the island. It is New Zealand's most densely populated island, with 83.58 people/km², and the third most populated after the North and South Island. It is the most accessible offshore island in the Gulf, due to regular passenger and car ferry services and some air links.  Waiheke translates as "the descending waters" or "ebbing water", which refers to a historic event when Maori explorer Kahumatamomoe landed on the island and urinated. The name originally referred only to the stream at Onetangi, but now is used to refer to the entire island.  Waiheke has several locations of interest to geologists, namely an argillite outcrop in Omiha Bay and a chert stack at the end of Pohutukawa Point, the latter considered as "one of the best exposures of folded chert in Auckland City".