Today our group took a ferry to Waiheke Island, a short ways from Auckland. Upon arrival, we met up with a member of the Waiheke Resources Trust, a sustainability organization focused on educating locals and tourists on the island’s practices and creating real positive change to the environment. Something interesting that I learned was most of the visitors coming into the Waiheke Resources Trust were from Auckland, rather than other countries. This fact highlights the importance of educating visitors on these sustainable practices so that these practices can be implemented on a more local scale in Auckland, rather than just overseas. Through the organization, we were able to go into some forest and plants some trees, almost in a symbolic manner. Once we finished there, we took a bus to the Mudbrick Winery. What stood out to me at the vineyard was that all the wine produced on the property was sold on it through the restaurant and shop. None of the wine was exported. Finally, we rode the bus to a viewpoint and caught the ferry back to Auckland. It was cool to see how the smaller island practiced sustainable methods of agriculture and tourism.
