Cascadas y vinos de Piha
Descripción
Si desea tener la tarde libre o tomar un vuelo, esta edición más corta por la mañana de nuestro tour de vinos de día completo por las cordilleras de Piha Waitakere lo llevará a ver el asentamiento de la playa de arena negra de Piha y luego las tranquilas y serenas cascadas de Karekare. Antes de regresar a la Sky Tower de Auckland, podrá degustar vinos en Soljans Vineyard en Kumeu. La familia Soljans puede presumir de 5 generaciones de producción de vino en Auckland y todavía es propiedad de la familia. Producen Methode Traditionelle, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Gewürtztraminer, Pinot Noir, Muscat espumoso, Pinotage y Merlot Cabernet Malbec. También producen un Oporto Tawny añejado durante 10 años que podrá probar.
Opciones de la excursión
Itinerario
Piha es un asentamiento costero, uno de varios a unos 50 minutos en coche del distrito comercial central de Auckland. Conducimos por el valle de Henderson, el corazón histórico pionero de la industria del vino de Nueva Zelanda, donde se establecieron muchos vinicultores croatas y comenzaron a cosechar los antiguos árboles Kauri para obtener madera y resina, una exportación temprana. Piha es famosa por su arena volcánica de hierro negro magnético y es un puesto de avanzada muy popular para visitar tanto por lugareños como por turistas. Los viajeros se detendrán en el mirador de Piha para disfrutar de las magníficas vistas del asentamiento de abajo antes de conducir y caminar por la playa. El mar de Tasmania costero es muy espectacular de ver, pero también peligroso con resacas y grandes olas y condiciones climáticas tormentosas en invierno. En verano es un paraíso para los surfistas y ha sido sede de los campeonatos mundiales de surf sub 16. Disfrute del tiempo en las playas de Piha Sur y Norte y vea la icónica Roca del León.
Karekare es otro asentamiento cerca de Piha en la cordillera Waitakere. La cascada es una de varias cascadas naturales hermosas a 15 minutos a pie dentro de la selva tropical. Dentro de este bosque protegido, verá un árbol Pohutukawa de 500 años, una especie que los neozelandeses llaman coloquialmente el árbol de Navidad nativo de Nueva Zelanda, porque solo florece durante un mes en diciembre. Verá una amplia gama de otras plantas y árboles nativos diferentes, incluido el lino nativo y el "helecho plateado", el ícono más famoso de Nueva Zelanda. Al pie de las cataratas hay varias palmeras Nikau, la palmera antípoda que crece más al sur del mundo. La mayor parte del camino que conduce a la cascada ha sido gravado por seguridad. Ocasionalmente, en el otoño, verá patos y anguilas nativas que curiosamente salen a la superficie para mirar a la gente. El viaje en automóvil por el bosque desde Piha a Karekare es de 20 minutos y la caminata desde el estacionamiento hasta las cataratas es de 10 minutos. Pasamos unos 20 minutos junto a las cataratas de Karekare.
Soljans Estate es una empresa vinícola familiar de quinta generación fundada en 1937. Pioneros en la elaboración de vinos de Nueva Zelanda, producen Methode Traditionelle espumoso, vinos rosados, Chardonnay fermentado en barrica de la finca, Pinot Gris y una pequeña cantidad de Pinotage. Su viticultor de Marlborough les suministra Gewurtztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc y Pinot Noir. Producen mezclas de Syrah y Cabernet añejados en barrica de Hawkes Bay y Moscatel espumoso dulce de Gisborne. También tienen una reputación envidiable por su Oporto Tawny de 10 años añejado en barriles gigantes Totara hechos a mano de 3400 litros. Soljans también tiene una tienda de recuerdos y puede organizar el envío de cualquiera de sus vinos a su domicilio en Australia, el Reino Unido y los Estados Unidos. Probará un mínimo de cinco vinos en la bodega y Soljans tiene como objetivo satisfacer diferentes paladares y preferencias en el día.
Lo más destacado
Qué incluye
Lugares y horarios de recogida
Solo recogemos de Hoteles o Alojamientos con drive-throughs o zonas de carga dedicadas. Si su hotel no aparece en la lista contáctenos y le informaremos su punto de encuentro más cercano. Este tour solo regresa al Sky City Hotel por la Sky Tower - Sin excepciones.
Valoraciones de viajeros
Información importante
- No se recomienda para viajeros con lesiones de la columna vertebral
- No se recomienda para viajeros con mala salud cardiovascular
- No es recomendable para embarazadas
- Hay opciones de transporte público disponibles en las cercanías
- Adecuado para todos los niveles de aptitud física
- La edad mínima para beber es de 18 años.
- El tiempo total empleado en conducir el vehículo para este recorrido panorámico es de aproximadamente 3 horas.
- No recomendado para clientes con discapacidad de rodilla o cadera.
Opiniones(9)
Driver/ owner / tour guide was amazing. Knew all about the wines as well as the countryside. He managed to provide interesting dialog all the way to the various locations. Has half day 1 winery and full day 2 wineries. Both had excellent wines.
Hi Donald, Thanks for booking the tour and thanks for the great review. I hope you'll follow NZWINEPRO® on Facebook or Instagram where I post interesting things I come across on tour. Best regards - John McFarlane
We booked this activity through Viator several weeks in advance. We received confirmation and tickets. We arrived at the pickup location early and messaged the operator to ensure we were in the right location. We did not receive a response. Contacted Viator directly who spoke with the operator wan advised that we had not been out on their calendar. We had one day in Auckland and were left with no tour as everything else was booked. So unprofessional and they didn’t even respond to us. I would give them zero stars if I could. Nothing was offered to compensate for this oversight.
Hi Pink, We collect from 14 major hotels and cruise ships from the Port. Normally when we receive a booking through Viator we respond to it asking where the client is staying so that we can schedule their pickup in a logical order depending on the number of pickups and their locations around the Auckland central business district The client responds and the booking is confirmed. This is all done through the email intranet or chat system that is part of the Viator booking system. You received an automated E ticket that said "confirmed" but that is not a confirmation from the operator , that's a confirmation that you simply have a ticket. When you buy an Airline ticket you are still required to check in and it's the same with us. In your case, the booking never got put in the calendar so we did not know there was a booking until Viator phoned us which was the first communication we had with you through them. You booked something and never contacted us prior to the departure date and time to confirm or reconfirm that the details on the ticket were correct - which they were not. This has happened before. Sky City Hotel is simply a default location which we have to put in. It's one of the 14 hotels While we accept this mistake was ours, you never reached out once in the communication through the Viator Chat system like most seasoned travellers do well in advance. If you leave contact to the departure time there is a real chance the tour has already departed If you had contacted us in advance you could have been collected directly from your cruise ship like the other travellers that went on the tour that day that communicated with us efficiently. We have a log of the communications with you after the tour had departed, but prior to that we received no telephone call, no messages - nothing. The terrible reviews are all unfortunately clients that did not get to go on tours - and so your review is a reflection of that rather than of the tour itself and I understand you are disappointed. I am personally very sad this occurred and that you missed out on an amazing experience. You received a full refund To anyone reading this I guess the moral of the story is book direct with the operator and don't go though 3rd party on-sellers where communications sometimes fail or don't happen at all. We were supposed to contact you but you could have done a lot more to contact us in the weeks leading up to the tour date. Mellissa Wiles - Tour Co-ordinator
Booked this activity several weeks in advance. We received our confirmation and tickets. We arrived early at the pickup location and messaged the operator to make sure we were in the right location. We received no response. We contacted Viator and were told the operator didn’t put our booking on his calendar! We had one day in Auckland and we were left with no tour as everything else was booked. Very disappointing and so unprofessional that the operator did not even respond. Nothing was offered to compensate for this oversight. I would give zero stars if I could.
Hi Tommi, We have already responded to your partners 1 star review. We are sorry for this error which was a complex administrative mistake that we acknowledge. Small businesses grow from learning from mistakes and evolving to ensure they are not repeated. We are sorry for the disappointment that you missed your tour. The departure time was brought forward to accommodate the departure of the cruise ship you were on and this should have been communicated to you. Kindest regards Mellissa Wiles - Tour Co-ordinator
We took the half-day Waterfalls and Wine option and while there were nice moments on the tour the majority of the outing was spent traveling in a somewhat cramped van. The pick-ups of participants began at 9-ish, not the tour itself. Then, after 50 minutes of driving there were two stops at nearly identical beaches (20 minutes each), and one 5-minute hike to an attractive waterfall. As a result there was only time to enjoy a single wine tasting. Perhaps we didn't read the fine print closely enough but we anticipated more hiking and wine tasting and less motoring. The all-day tour might have been more satisfying, as Piha IS a beautiful location and it simply takes time to get there and back.
I'm disappointed in your review which is quite at odds with other reviewers of the same tour. There is no public transport to Piha or Karekare and there are a limited number of tour companies prepared to go there because the roads are so hard on vehicles. You clearly did not read the inclusions which state you would visit black sand beaches at Piha, 2 of them, visit a pretty waterfall after a short walk in the forest at Karekare and taste wine a Soljans Vineyard. It was all in the description, but you make it sound as though if we availed more time there would be time for more wine tasting. You are a dreamer and quite naive and definitely ungrateful. Perhaps you should have booked the longer version that others on the tour paid for, which included lunch and a second winery - But you opted for the shorter and much cheaper edition, so I throw it right back at you. It is quite a drive I concede but there are amazing views and getting to these places is not easy at all. So thanks for your completely average review.
It was a great experience, largely because our guide, Jon, was so knowledgeable! This area of the country is magnificent.
Hi Theresa, Thanks for your great review. I'm so pleased you enjoyed your tour and that the inclusions met with your best expectation. Kind regards - John McFarlane
Perfect day! We just wanted a half day tour as we had a lot of things planned and this fit the mold perfectly. John was an incredible guide and was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It was awesome to see a waterfall and piha- and the vineyard was the perfect way to end the day. Would highly recommend!
Hi Valerie, I'm so happy you enjoyed this tour - Piha is a magic place - The wine afterwards the cherry. Thanks for your great review.
We did a similar excursion with the same company a few years ago. Enjoyed then and enjoyed it again this time. We were lucky the wet weather held off while we visited Piha Beach and waterfall.
Hi Monika, Thanks for the great review and for choosing NZWINEPRO® twice. I do hope you'll follow my business @nzwinepro on Facebook or Instagram where I post things of interest that I discover on tour. All the best - John McFarlane
We had already toured the city and Waiheke island, but we hadn't seen the beaches or rain-forest of the nearby west side. I'm glad we took this tour. It gave us a chance to view more of the unspoiled beauty of New Zealand. Added plus was that this tour finished by 2pm enabling us to catch our evening flight home without needing to rush.
Hi Jay, I'm delighted you enjoyed Piha and the waterfalls. This morning tour is becoming very popular for people departing on early flights or cruise ships and still wish to have a few hours before departure. I do hope you'll follow my business @nzwinepro on Facebook or Instagram where I post things of interest I come across on tour. Kind regards - John McFarlane
What a wonderful tour! John was our guide and was so clear and communicative from the very start. His insights into New Zealand history and culture was fasinating and vast. Piha beach and the waterfall were beautiful and we stopped at several locations for breathaking photos. Boy does John know about wines! We had a great stop at a winery to taste test and learn about how wines came to be grown in NZ. Also got to sample some local manuka honey which was an added bonus! They have a full day version of this tour, with lunch but this shorter one was perfect for us as we made it back to Auckland by early afternoon to rest, shop and meet friends for dinner! In fact, John gave us a leaflet with various recommendations that did not dissappoint! We had a fabulois meal of green lipped mussels and frites at The Occidental and visted several other recommendations - all A+++! This is a must do tour!
Thanks for your fantastic view of the Piha Waterfalls & Wines Tour. I appreciate the positive feedback and I'm pleased the nzwinepro® newsletter had some things for you to do and see. This shorter tour is very popular for people leaving on an early flight or cruise but still want to see the wild west coast, nature and then taste wine. I do hope you'll follow my business @nzwinepro on Facebook or Instagram where I post things of interest I come across on tour. Best regards - John McFarlane
