Download The Great Outdoors: Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island is on the “urban fringe” of
Auckland. It is a thriving tourist destination and a
growing reputation as the “island of wine”. The 2
are entwined. It is also growing as a residential area
It is Accessible from Auckland by ferry.
It is 26km long, 19km across, 230m high.
Population clustered at Western end in “ribbon”
development.
Half of visitors go to the beach, third to vineyards.
Site: the land on which settlement stands.
Auckland is built on an isthmus of Waitemata
sandstone.
Situation: where it is relative to things around it.
Auckland is where the N Island narrows,
between Waitemata and Manukau harbours.
Form: the shape of the settlement.
The Auckland Region stretches from Wellsford to
Pukekohe and covers approx. 500,000 hectares.
The current population is 1.4 million people.
This number increases by 49 people every day.
Functions of Auckland : business, residential,
entertainment, recreation, transport, etc.
Today
1960’s
Pre-European
Maori settlement
eg Cox’s Bay
Recreation and
tourism eg
Rainbows End in
Manukau,
vineyards and
restaurants on
Waiheke
Early
Europeans eg
Hobson
Suburbanisation
eg to the North
shore, south,
west and later
east
Growth of Agriculture
to feed growing
population eg Mangere
market gardens
Industry eg
Southdown meat
works and
transport
networks eg
harbour bridge
1959
• Originally called “Te Motu Arai Roa” the long sheltered island. No one is
sure where Waiheke came from.
• Settled 1200’s by Toi The Navigator from Hawaii.
• 1300’s called Te Motonui-o-Kaha after Chief Kahu(Te Arawa)
• 1600’s invaded by Ngati Awa and 1700’s by Ngati Paoa.
• Ist European was Capt Cook 1769 and during 1850’s timber(kauri) was
cleared and European occupation began.
Population
• 1901-162 1945 -835 1986 -4,5001996 -6522 2001 -7449 2006 -8000
2010 -9000 plus 3,400 who have holiday homes.(92.8% European)
Today 2,000 of permanent residents commute the 17.7 kms to Auckland to
work each day. 35 mins. 1986 Quick Cat introduced.
Summer population swells to 30,000.
Every year 500,000 to 750,000 visitors, mostly day trippers.
Auckland International Airport only 1hr away for exporting wine and tourist arrivals.
N
Sunshine hrs more than Auckland 2000hrs plus
Auckland university trains
viticulturists.
Residential area supplies workers for vineyards,
cafes and tourist services.
SW winds bring rain but Goldwater
is sheltered by a ridge
Soils fertile, free draining contain manganese
nodules good for grape and olive growing
Passenger ferry 30mins
Auckland brings tourists to buy.
Vehicle ferry from Half Moon Bay,
1hr, for supply of bottles etc and export of wine.
Slopes means soils drain easily
Other vineyards, like Te Whau
share workers, machinery and
Attract more visitors.
1. Aucklands population growing to 1.4m. Shortage of
housing on mainland-move to gulf Island with transport.
Close enough to Auckland (17.7km) to commute.
2. 19.3km from E to W with 40km of attractive beaches.
3. 27 vineyards including Goldwater, 16 sell at cellar door,
10 offer food, 4 wedding venues. Hilly but not high (max
231m) with temperate climate
Weather important in growth of tourism and viticulture.
• Tourism is New Zealand’s single largest export
industry, surpassing the dairy industry in
earnings.
• In the year ended December 2005, New Zealand
welcomed 2.38 million international visitors. Our
largest markets – Australia, the UK, the USA and
Japan – are all showing growth and overall visitor
expenditure is also increasing. China is our 2nd
largest supplier of tourists.
PROCESS 3 DEVELOPMENT OF
VITICULTURE IN NZ
• New Zealand's first vines were planted in Northland in 1819
Early Auckland vineyards planted by settlers Eg: Yugoslavians
in West Auckland – Corban’s Winery.
• 1990’s wine was sold in supermarkets / changes in Nz’ers
tastes, grew in popularity
• Popularity and reputation grew overseas – esp for Sauvignon
Blanc (NZ well suited for growing).
• Colleges started to offer courses (esp in Gisborne and Hawkes
Bay)
• Vines planted on Waiheke 1998
• Viticulture is one of NZ’s fastest growing farming types
i.e: over last decade growing from 6,000 to 30,000 ha dedicated
to grape growing!
1975 Kim and Jeanette Goldwater bought 35 acres on
Waiheke and 1978 began planting vines on a gorse covered
hillside. Planted 20 acres in red grapes, first wine made in
1981.
2009 output 2,800 cases.
Location good naturally and culturally. Attracts visitors to café,
restaurant, tasting room. Sell all wine from site or mail
order.
Issues: Still spray glyphosphate 3x pa. and noisy during
harvesting. Andy Black viticulturist,
7-yr averages 1997-2003
WAIHEKE Oct
Maximum
Temperatu19.1C
re
Minimum
Temperatu 11.7C
re
Mean
Temperatu15.4C
re
Rainfall 82mm
Humidity 76
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
20.2C
22.5C
24.2C
25.3C
23.9C
21.0C
12.4C
14.4C
15.2C
16.2C
15.0C
12.5C
16.3C
18.5C
19.7C
20.8C
19.5C
16.8C
96mm
76
111mm
77
57mm
76
67mm
77
83mm
82
94mm
84
• No mains water-av 140litres used p.p.per day, 78% used by
residents, study showed can support 6,730 people.
• Sewerage system only for Western end of island
• A rise in sea levels may affect beaches, with an increase from
an average of 1.7mm per year to 3mm per year in New
Zealand in the past 10 to 15 years. Also March 2014 clean up
collected 1,580kgs rubbish off beaches.
• Median income less than Auckland yet house prices are high.
• Transport around island difficult and ferries and freight costs
are expensive.
• Food resilience.
SUSTAINABILITY of continued growth is questionable.
Locals and tourists have different PERCEPTIONS of
sustainability.
Visitors 80% of sample coming off ferry, mostly from
Auckland. (190 of 886 international: 305 stayed the
night)
High % of retired due to SuperGold card.
¾ on a “holiday day out” to visit wineries, restaurants,
beaches, art, history. 20% named a special event.
Most negative comments were directed at ferries: cost,
overcrowded, lack of crowd control at Matiatia, dirty.
Wine tourism is a key factor in development. 25%
visited a winery.
• Potential adverse affects of growth on host community.
• 2 groups have different visions/perceptions of what
Waiheke is and should be.
• Change from marginal pasture to economic land-use
welcomed by some, not others(use water-potential
water shortages and salination of groundwater, spray
drift,noise)
• Many local/greenies don’t like commercialisation.
• Problem of waste disposal and pollution from sceptic
tanks
• Further development is likely: constraints are ferries
(costs) and buses as well
1975 Kim and Jeanette Goldwater bought 35 acres on
Waiheke and 1978 began planting vines on a gorse covered
hillside. Planted 20 acres in red grapes, cabsav, merlot, cab
franc. 3yrs to grow, 3yrs to produce:1981.
2009 planted chardonnay, viognier and syrah. Output 2,800
cases. Location good naturally and culturally. Still spray
glyphosphate 3x pa. 2 permanent staff 2/3 casual, 8 when
leaf plucking. Andy Black viticulturist, 3 tractors, posts,
netting at $1100 a roll, 2000+hrs of sunshine, 950mm of
rain, manganese nodules in soil. 10thAug chardonnay
grapes bud. Brix test for sugar content. When 16% pick
grapes. Botrytis helped by netting to stop birds pecking
grapes. Marlborough new area 400,000 cases. 7 tonnes
grapes makes 7,500 litres wine.
Waiheke Island’s climate is strongly influenced by the surrounding sea. Being
situated in the Hauraki Gulf to the east of Auckland, the island is partially
protected from the prevailing colder/wetter west and southwest winds, making
it both drier and warmer (4*)than the Auckland isthmus.
The ocean acts as both a fan and an insulator. Sea breezes moderate rising
temperatures in mid-summer. The ocean moderates falling temperatures at
night. In simple terms, this means that mean temperatures during the growing
season are comparable to much ‘hotter’ regions but without the extremes and,
critically, these moderate temperatures extend longer into the early autumn
ripening period of March and April, allowing later varieties to ripen fully over
an extended period.
Rocks are also important : clay soils of Jurassic rock underlying weathered
argillite converted to clay overlain by Aeolian silt.