Spring Break: Waiheke and Devonport

One of the best things about being in Auckland is how easy it is to get out of the city without really going far at all. I didn’t have anything too structured planned, but I knew I wanted to make the most of it, so jumping on a ferry felt like an easy win. That’s how I ended up doing day trips to Waiheke Island and Devonport.

Waiheke felt like a proper little escape, but getting there was slightly chaotic. The website said to arrive about 30 minutes before the scheduled ferry you wanted to take, so I thought it would be easy, but we ended up waiting about an hour and a half. It was probably just extra busy because of Good Friday, but still not ideal. Once we finally got on, though, the ferry ride itself was really nice with views back toward the skyline and just open water the whole way.

When we got to Waiheke, it instantly felt way more relaxed. We headed over to Oneroa Beach, which was such a nice spot to just chill for a bit. After that, we did something a bit more fun and went ziplining with EcoZip Adventures, which was honestly one of the highlights of the day.

Devonport was way more low-key but still really nice. The ferry situation there was so much easier as it runs way more often, so you can literally show up, buy a ticket, and hop on without overthinking it. Once we got there, we walked up to the top of Mount Victoria, which had such a good view looking back at the city. After that, we stopped by the Devonport Chocolate Factory, which was a pretty random but fun addition to the day.

Both day trips were super different but ended up being some of my favourite parts of the break.