Waiheke Hidden Gem Tree House

My partner and I have been to Waiheke many times, but this time we took our car on the ferry so we could explore the island properly and get to the accommodation, which was away from Waiheke's main centre.

After catching the ferry, we drove to our accommodation in the dark and the first thing we noticed on arrival was the beautiful fairy lights. They were strung all along the sides of the steps for the whole walk down to the treehouse, which was a really cute touch. We had to cross a cool wooden bridge and were in line with the trees as we walked up to the amazing property, which made us feel like we really were experiencing a proper treehouse.

After arriving, we noticed how modern and nice the treehouse was but how it still held that rustic touch. We found ourselves wondering where the bathroom was, then suddenly saw a trapdoor that concealed a flight of stairs, which we followed to find a gorgeous bathroom and little balcony. The bathroom was super cute, with a Victorian-style bath, and we couldn't wait to relax in it. It had been a big day, so we decided to tuck ourselves in and get some rest, excited for the next day's adventures.

We woke up in the morning to the sound of the forest birds chirping. We walked out on the deck to check out exactly where we were with a coffee, and found ourselves with the best view of a massive Kauri tree. It was incredible admiring it from high up. Then we packed our day bags and headed out for our day of adventure.

We decided to head straight to Tantalus Estate for lunch. This vineyard is one of the nicest that we've visited on the island and has a Mediterranean style. I ordered a beer, which was brewed on-site, and I sure had some prosecco with our two-course meal. We enjoyed it so much that we stayed there for two and a half hours. After lunch, we were well into the afternoon so we headed back to the accommodation to enjoy the hot tub in the woods. We watched the sun set and had a relaxing, restful evening, with a good book under the stars and a glass of red in hand.

In the morning, we checked out and headed over to a beachfront cafe for breakfast. We went for a walk along the beach and watched the surfers, then caught the ferry home and reminisced about a relaxing couple of days on the island.