April 2023 Newsletter - Waiheke Walking Festival

by Kate Michell | May 3, 2023

2023 Key Dates for your Diary

1st July 10am Te Ara Hura bookings open

10th July 10am Walk/Accomm package(s) bookings open

1st September WAIHEKE WALKING FESTIVAL – WEBSITE LIVE

15th September Friends/Patrons bookings open

29th September General Public bookings open

15th October 9am – 1pm Volunteer Training

22nd October PRE FESTIVAL – NEW COMMUNITY EVENT

26th October – 5th November WAIHEKE WALKING FESTIVAL IS ON!!

Hello to our very own Waiheke Walking Festival amazing Ambassador and trail lover Gary Wilton. Over the last five years, Gary has established Make Tracks as the island’s go-to specialists for bush, beach and garden track work. Check out these superb YouTube videos which showcases some amazing work from Gary and the Team doing what they love the most – making tracks!:

This video tells you all about Make Tracks

Here’s a walkthrough of Make Tracks upgrade of the Sandy Bay to Hekerua Bay track

Stay up to date and follow progress on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maketrackswaiheke

Love your work Gary and great to have you on-board this year as a MAJOR SPONSOR!

Photo credit: Gary Wilton

Patrons Autumn Walk series

The second walk of the new series (3rd Sunday of each month) was successfully held on 16th April. An intimate group of Patrons, their friends and dogs walked the Northern Reserves from Palm Beach to Oneroa with a wonderful detour through Paul and Alison Dyson’s valley property. The series will capture and showcase the breathtaking Walk Waiheke and app routes.

Our next walk will be on 21st May at 9am at the Museum of Waiheke (165 Onetangi Rd). If you are interested in becoming a Patron and would like to hear more about what we do, please join us for this walk or contact Sarah Kember (patrons@waihekewalkingfestival.org) for further information.

Photo credit: Sarah Kember

Friend of the Festival membership update

Our Friends of the Festival memberships are now ‘live’. Don’t forget to sign up, as these sell quickly! Membership will ensure that you and your friends (up to 5) get the best and earliest opportunity to secure your chosen walks from our 2023 Programme.

For more information CLICK HERE

Why not join our wonderful group of volunteers?

If you love walking and love people, you could join our wonderful group of volunteers. They don’t call us the world’s friendliest festival for nothing!

We were blessed with four NEW Volunteers who joined our first VOLUNTEER WALK of the year held on 15th April! It was a lovely morning with a great show out of people and three dogs. Meeting at The Museum of Waiheke, walking around the back of the Onetangi Sports Park and Rangihoua and calling in at one of our favourite places – Waiheke Specialty Food, for some yummy coffee and Croque Madames. And because our volunteers are so awesome, they managed to spot a moth plant and hit on it with Jan Louise driving the charge and carrying a whole bag of pods out. Love your work!

Our next walk is on Sunday 18th June. If you are interested in becoming a Volunteer and would like to hear more about what we do and join our next walk, please contact info@waihekewalkingfestival.org more for further information.

Photo credit: Nydia Bean.

DIY Walks – walkwaiheke.co.nz

Have you heard about walkwaiheke.co.nz? Our website gives you access to self guided tracks allowing you to enjoy the beauty of the Island at your own pace – all year round.

Waiheke is bigger than you think! It’s the second largest island is the Hauraki Gulf and is packed with contrasts. You’ll find walks in all corners of the island on this website which take you through ancient forests, past beautiful waterfalls, along golden sand beaches, between wineries and to see ancient kumara pits and pa sites.

Don’t forget to tag us into your social media and give us a shout out when you’re out and about walking on Waiheke – we’d love to hear from you!

Photo credit: Barbara Lowther

Missing you already Vicki Angland, our Festival Manager, who is currently overseas walking The Camino de Santiago in Spain. We hope she’s having the time of her life, and that we can share some of her inspiration for the trip and include some photographs of her amazing journey next time!

Please contact Kate Michell (kate@waihekewalkingfestival.org/0204 119 8962) if you have any queries in the meantime or Vicki who will be checking-in often!

Teaser alert!!! We’re so excited and we just can’t hide it….

Yes! We’re working on bringing a much loved walk coming back to us this year…can you guess?

Finally a big THANK YOU to Ray White Waiheke who have been our Presenting Partner and our good friends for a massive 7 years. We’ll miss you as Presenting Partners as your passion for walking is infectious and inspiring. From the marathon length walk Oneroa – Man O’ War Bay – Oneroa, to the rope climb to Poderi Crisci and numerous other walks. We’ve shared 100’s of kms, lots of laughs and the occasional(!) glass of wine together.

We hope you’ll continue your journey with us in some way. As you know we’re always up for a good walk and catch-up (and a glass of wine!).

To email us CLICK HERE

Happy walking everyone,
Your Festival Team
Vicki, Kate, Tess, Linda, Mandy, Judy, Sarah, Olly and David

We are proudly Kauri Dieback free on Waiheke Island, and the Waiheke Walking Festival is committed to keeping it that way. Always brush and disinfect your shoes on arrival at the Kauri Dieback station at the Matiatia ferry terminal.

All walkers will also do the same at the start and end of each walk.

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