Walk down the isle

A new festival shows Waiheke's amazing tracks to a wider audience. Amanda Leek goes for a stroll.

The taste of salty spinach is still in my mouth. It's kokihi, the native spinach, and Gary Wilton was right, it is "oddly refreshing" after a brisk walk.
A stoic, thoughtful frown sets the features of our local guide as he pauses between photographs, hands in pockets, gazing across the beach.
It strikes me he's deciding what to show us as a taste of what the Waiheke Island Walking Festival is all about.
This is Te Wharau Bay. Emerging onto the beach scattered with overturned white shells and hunks of wood chippings, Gary, a track-savvy parks officer, bounds out like an enthusiastic kid, ready to share everything he knows.
Gary has been parks officer on Waiheke Island for five years, and he knows it is rich in recent history.
"Stories bring the island to life," he says, adding that he hopes local guides' stories will change the "hippies and wine" perception of Waiheke Island. "The locals have hundreds [of stories] and, if you're not careful, they'll tell you all of them."
But Gary has one special, romantic story of his own: a rare sight on Oneroa, his favourite beach, is the phosphorescence of chemicals released by algae. At night, a fluorescent light glows from the waves as they break. Frightened fish, at someone's approach, produce lightning bolts of movement.
Gary is not sure when to look for this, but he does recall it was a special sight on the night he and his wife married on Oneroa beach.
He wants people to see Waiheke for the "serious walking destination" it is.
He helped build a path down to Korora Reserve. From the top we can see a smaller, yet still ominous, black outline of a stingray rippling through the the sparkling, clear sea.
As we walk down, I appreciate the struggle to cut this steep walkway of steps and smooth gravel into the vertical cliffside. Strands of pink tape reveal the first tentative route for the path, abandoned because it was "impossible".
The island's first walking festival offers 20 walks in seven days, with one-off opportunities to see private land and vineyards never before opened to the public.
Gary is one of the many locals who will provide a convivial atmosphere for groups of 50 walkers and unique insights into Waiheke's quirky history, art and character.
He believes walking is the best way to see the "real Waiheke". It's also the best way to see the entire Hauraki Gulf. Better than going by boat? He laughs.
"Well, not everyone can go by boat; it's not everyone's cup of tea."
Whereas walking on Waiheke Island really is "so easy", says Jenness Reeve, the event's main organiser who can't pick a favourite. "It's so hard to choose," she says. "They are all delightful."
She has just returned from the Grape to Grain trail and was "blown away". This walk goes through private vineyards and landscapes that even she didn't know existed, and ends at Waiheke Island Brewery.
If she had to pick one, she'd have lunch at the world-renowned Te Whau Vineyard and Restaurant, then look at the collection of more than 50 artworks along the Te Whau Sculpture Walk.
Take a hike
Waiheke Walking Festival 30 Oct-7 Nov. Register for guided walks by phoning Waiheke i-Site visitor centre: (09) 372 1234 or email waiheke@aucklandnz.com . Places limited to 50 people per walk; booking essential.
More info, see: www.eventfinder.co.nz/2010/oct/waiheke-island/waiheke-island-walking-festival