Wild on Waiheke

Wild on Waiheke occupies a vineyard along Onetangi Road and has built a set of outdoor activities into it. The two paid ones are archery and laser claybird shooting, each run in short sessions with an instructor and each pitched squarely at beginners — a child who has never held a bow is the usual customer rather than the exception. They can be taken singly or as an hour combining the two.

Around them sits a run of things that need no booking at all: a large timber playground with a slide and climbing frame, a trampoline, a giant chess set, petanque and volleyball. That combination is what makes the place work for a family with a spread of ages, because the six-year-old is occupied while the eleven-year-old is on the range. A café and a brewery share the same site, so the afternoon can be stretched out.