Waiheke Island, NZ

The island's most photographed dining room: a rammed-earth building above the Hauraki Gulf, white-tablecloth Mediterranean cooking and an estate wine list that's won London Wine Competition golds. The romantic-occasion default.

Sleek modern winery overlooking the gulf, with two restaurants under one roof — fine-dining inside, wood-fired Verandah on the lawn for shared plates and pizza. The Verandah is the move for a long boozy lunch.

Pencil-thin peninsula vineyard with 360-degree water views, a Wine Spectator Grand Award cellar of 700+ labels and quietly excellent kitchen. The wine-nerd choice when Mudbrick feels too obvious.

Cult Bordeaux-blend producer south of Onetangi with a rustic indoor-outdoor restaurant under olive trees. Larose, the flagship red, is rationed by allocation — the cellar door is the one place to taste it without paying restaurant markup.

Honest Italian on an east-side vineyard, hand-rolled pasta and wood-fired secondi served on a long olive-shaded terrace. Sunday long lunch is an institution — five courses, four hours.

Gaudi-tiled mosaic gardens around a Spanish-leaning restaurant near Onetangi, doing tapas and paella under olive trees. The fun, slightly mad alternative to Mudbrick's restraint.

Onetangi Beach bar in an old cottage, sand-floor garden, well-priced wood-fired pizzas and a hundred local regulars on a sunny afternoon. The opposite of vineyard formality and the better choice some days.

Pacific fine-dining at the eastern end of Onetangi Beach — Maori ingredients, sustainably caught seafood, modern technique. The most ambitious dining room on the island and a fixture in NZ best-of lists.

All-day Italian in central Oneroa, doing house-made pasta from breakfast through dinner. The village's reliable everyday restaurant — not destination cooking but it never misses.

Breakfast and lunch room in a high-windowed shed at the Onetangi end, doing the best brunch on the island and a serious coffee program. Locals' weekend default before the tourist ferries arrive.

Wood-fired pizza wagon at Little Oneroa Beach, takeaway slabs from a real Italian oven, eat them on the sand. The best cheap lunch on the island.

Onetangi Beach restaurant named for the bay's road number, doing burgers, fish and chips and a respectable cocktail list on a deck right above the sand. The all-rounder when you can't decide between food, drinks and a swim.

Oneroa institution above the village shops, doing Pacific oysters, a strong fish menu and one of the best cocktail bars on the island. The white-painted small-island room people remember.

Winery near Onetangi pairing serious wine and beer (they brew on site) with a restaurant that's quietly become a favourite of in-the-know visitors. Less polished than Mudbrick, less rustic than Stonyridge, sharper food than both.

Section of the 100km island-girdling trail closest to the ferry — about an hour's walk along clifftops from Matiatia wharf into Oneroa. Sea on one side, vineyards on the other, the easiest taste of the long route.

South coast park of regenerating bush, a tidal estuary and a swimming beach reached by short loop walks. Quieter than the north-side beaches and the only easy native-bird-watching on the island.

An hour-and-a-half loop on the island's eastern tip linking the WWII tunnels with sea cliffs and a small beach. The walk's the reason most people drive out; the history is the bonus.

Short bush walk through the Whakanewha catchment to a small waterfall and back, an hour total. Easy, shaded, popular with local families on hot afternoons.

Clifftop coastal path on the western side of the island, about two hours one-way through pohutukawa and along farmland edges. Less trafficked than the Matiatia-Oneroa stretch and with arguably better views.

Biennial outdoor sculpture walk along the cliffs of Matiatia, two-and-a-half kilometres of large-scale commissioned NZ work spaced along a coastal path with the gulf as backdrop. Runs about six weeks every second summer.

Three zip-lines spanning a vineyard valley between Matiatia and Onetangi, with a short bush walk to finish at the start of the wine trail. Two-hour package most people pair with vineyard lunches afterwards.

Adventure park combining archery, clay-bird shooting and laser tag with a winery and brewery on the same site, near Onetangi. Awkward as that sounds, it works — and it's the rainy-day go-to for groups.

Self-guided tour of about 40 working artists' studios scattered around the island, open by appointment and on advertised weekends. The deep-cut version of the Waiheke art scene that goes well beyond the village galleries.

Long-running small-group wine tour operator that handles the vineyard logistics — pickups, three tastings, a long lunch, drop-off — so nobody is the driver. The clean way to do a Waiheke wine day.

Tasting room and gardens at the Mudbrick estate, open to walk-ins outside of busy lunchtimes. Cheaper than the restaurant, still gets you the view and a flight of the wines that the dining room is built on.

The island's main village beach, sandy and shallow with a row of cafes and galleries one block back from the sand. Default first stop off the ferry and the obvious sunset swim.

Longest stretch of sand on the island, two kilometres of white shell-sand on the north shore with three good beachfront bars at the western end. Body-surfable when the northerly blows.

Gentle swimming bay between Oneroa and Onetangi, deep enough off the sand for kayaks but flat enough for kids. Little Palm next door is a clothing-optional secret.

WWII coastal defence battery on the island's wild eastern tip — three nine-inch guns and 1.2km of underground tunnels carved into volcanic rock between 1942 and 1944. Strange, atmospheric and worth the long drive.

Volunteer-run gallery on Oneroa's main street showing rotating local work — ceramics, painting, sculpture — and a far better window into the island's working-artist community than the polished waterfront galleries.

Private working sculpture park on the south coast, visited only by booked guided tour. Two-hour walk through a landscape of large-scale commissioned works by leading NZ artists — closer to a small museum than a garden.