Signature Experiences
Our curated collection with local Matakana providers: vineyard tables and chef-led dinners at the Cookhouse, guided walks and coastal mornings, golf at the region's links, wellness in the dome, and cultural experiences shared with local storytellers.
Allow us to help you build your itinerary. Add anything that catches your eye as you read, then complete the form below and we will come back with prices and timings.
A walk through native bush and wetland past large-scale sculpture, with lunch at the glass house after.
A trail through native bush, wetland, and vineyard on the way into Matakana, with large-scale sculpture by New Zealand artists placed along it, changing as works sell and new ones arrive. It is a walk first and a gallery second: an hour or so at a wander, then a glass of the estate's own wine and lunch in the glass house over the lake. Easy for children and grandparents alike.
A morning or an afternoon, a few minutes from the estate. Bluestone Estate books the trail and your table. Comfortable shoes; the trail is unpaved in places.
Forty minutes by road, ten by helicopter. Tee times and coaching arranged.
Two courses sit forty minutes up the coast, on dunes above a beach that runs for ten kilometres. Bluestone Estate arranges your tee times, and if you would rather not drive, the helicopter lifts you from the estate to the course in ten minutes. Coaching with a professional can be arranged before you go, or on the day.
A day, or a morning with lunch after. Any residence; the Main House and the Farmhouse suit golf parties. Tee times are limited, so tell us early.
The local links, ten minutes away, for a round between the beach and the estuary.
Omaha Beach Golf Club is the local course, ten minutes from the estate on the flat land between the surf beach and the estuary, and it is the easy round: no helicopter, no tee-time scramble, clubs and a cart arranged, and back at the residence for lunch. For a golf party it pairs well with Te Arai: the links one day, the local course the next.
Half a day, any residence. Bluestone Estate arranges the tee time, and clubs if you have not brought your own.
A private pōwhiri for your party on the estate, hosted by Māori cultural practitioners from the region.
Bluestone Estate can arrange a private pōwhiri, the formal Māori welcome, for your party on the estate itself, hosted by Māori cultural practitioners from the region: the call, the speeches, the waiata, the hongi, and the sharing of food that follows. It is the way this country has greeted guests for centuries, offered to you privately rather than watched from a crowd, and it changes how the rest of the stay feels. A cultural experience away from the estate, at a marae or a cultural centre, can be arranged as well.
Arranged in advance, privately, at any property. Price on application. Tell us the occasion and who is coming, and Bluestone Estate will confirm what is possible with the hosts.
Lifted from the helipad to the water and back for lunch.
The helicopter collects you from the helipad at Bluestone Main Estate and puts you down where the fish are: a rock ledge, a reef the boats cannot reach, a bay of your own. Rods, bait, and local knowledge come with it. You are back for lunch, and a chef can cook the catch that night.
A half day, weather dependent, from the Main Estate helipad. Best from spring to autumn.
From the helipad at Bluestone Main Estate, the coast, the islands, and the Gulf from the air.
The helicopter lands on the lawn at Bluestone Main Estate and lifts you straight into the view: the Tāwharanui Peninsula and its regional park, Kawau Island and the boats in the bay, the white-sand beaches running north, and the islands of the Hauraki Gulf laid out below. Twenty minutes over the coast or an hour further out, with a landing somewhere you could not otherwise reach if you would like one. The same helicopter connects Bluestone Estate with Auckland and Te Arai Links.
From twenty minutes to a half day, from the Main Estate helipad, weather dependent. Up to the pilot's seat count per flight; tell us how many are flying. Price on application.
An evening walk in the open sanctuary with infrared torches.
Tāwharanui Regional Park is an open sanctuary, predator-fenced and eight kilometres from the estate, and North Island brown kiwi live there. After dark, with a guide and infrared torches, you walk the tracks quietly and wait. The birds are wild, so nothing is promised; the stars are.
An evening, after dark. Warm layers and closed shoes. Children who can stay quiet in the dark love it.
Photo: Auckland Museum, CC BY 2.0
Six galleries, three sculpture gardens, and a vineyard in Matakana, with lunch at Rothko.
Six galleries, three sculpture gardens, and a vineyard in Matakana, one collection with work by artists you will know and a great deal that makes people laugh. Lunch at Rothko, the restaurant on the property, finishes it properly.
A long morning or afternoon, in Matakana. Bluestone Estate books your entry and, on the days the restaurant opens, your table.
Matakana Village Farmers Market, seven minutes away. Go early.
Matakana Village Farmers Market runs every Saturday morning, seven minutes from the estate, and it is where the coast's growers, bakers, cheesemakers, and fishers sell what they made this week. Go early, eat breakfast standing up, and bring a bag. Whatever you carry home, the kitchen at your residence is ready for it.
Saturday mornings. Walk in on your own, or let Bluestone Estate provision your pantry from the market before you arrive.
Makers, vintage, and food stalls at Matakana Country Park, with the park to wander after.
Saturday belongs to the growers; Sunday belongs to the makers. The market at Matakana Country Park is the other half of the weekend, with craft, vintage, plants, and food stalls spread through the park, and the park itself, its animals, rides, and café, to wander once the bags are full. It is the slower of the two mornings, and the better one for children.
Sunday mornings, a few minutes from the estate. No booking needed; Bluestone Estate can tell you what is on that week and arrange the drive.
A skippered boat across the Gulf to Governor Grey's Mansion House.
Kawau Island sits across the water from the estate, and a skippered boat takes you there for the day: Mansion House, Governor Grey's Victorian home with its gardens and wallabies, quiet bays for a swim, and lunch on board or ashore. The Hauraki Gulf on a still day is the best argument for coming to this coast at all.
A day, or a long afternoon. Departs from Sandspit, close by. Best from spring to autumn.
Boutique, family-owned vineyards, a sculpture trail, and a wine bar that pours only local.
Matakana's vineyards are small and family-owned, and much of what they make is sold at the cellar door. A private day with Bluestone Estate's touring partner takes you to the winemakers themselves, with a sculpture trail and a long lunch in between, and a wine bar in the village that pours only local for the evening.
A day, privately guided, collected from your residence. Two to twelve guests. See Bespoke Tours with Terra & Tide.
New Zealand's first marine reserve, ten minutes on, with snapper in the shallows.
Goat Island at Leigh was New Zealand's first marine reserve, and after fifty years of protection the fish have no fear of people: snapper, blue maomao, and eagle rays in water clear enough to watch from the surface. Snorkel from the beach with a guide, take the glass-bottom boat if you would rather stay dry, or dive the reef and the kelp with an instructor. It is the coast's best afternoon for children who can swim.
A half day, with wetsuits, masks, and fins provided. Snorkelling suits confident swimmers of any age; diving needs a certification or an introductory course, arranged with the same operator. Best from late spring to autumn.
Photo: Korkut Tas, CC BY-SA 3.0
Electric karts on the track at the country park, for the whole party.
Electric karts on the track at Matakana Country Park, a few minutes from the estate: fast, quiet, and open to the whole party, so the teenagers race the grandparents and nobody has to sit it out. The park around it has room to spend the rest of the afternoon.
An hour or so, any day of the week. Ages and heights are set by the operator; tell us who is coming and Bluestone Estate will confirm who can drive.
Sheep and working dogs doing what they do, and lambs to feed, for the youngest in the party.
A working farm park on the road north of Warkworth where the show is the point: sheepdogs bringing the flock down the hill on a whistle, a sheep shorn in front of you, and lambs and farm animals to feed afterwards. For children it is the best morning on the coast, and for overseas guests it is the New Zealand they came to see.
A morning, a short drive from the estate. Shows run at set times, so Bluestone Estate checks the day's times before you go. Any residence; suits families with young children.
A small cinema in the village with proper seats, a bar, and a good programme.
Matakana Village has its own cinema, small and well kept, with a bar for a drink before the film and a programme that runs from new releases to the ones worth seeing twice. It is the answer to a wet afternoon, and to the evening when the party wants to do something together that is not cooking. Dinner in the village before or after.
An evening or a wet afternoon, seven minutes from the estate. Bluestone Estate books the seats, and a table in the village if you would like one.
A morning with your hands in clay at a studio in Matakana, and something to take home.
A studio in Matakana where you spend a morning with your hands in clay, at the wheel or building by hand, with a maker beside you to keep it from going wrong. It is quieter than it sounds and more absorbing than anyone expects, and what you make is fired and finished after you leave and sent on to you. Good for couples, for a group of friends, and for teenagers who claim to be bored.
A morning or an afternoon, privately, a few minutes from the estate. Aprons provided; wear clothes that can take a mark. Pieces are fired and posted to you afterwards.
A mobile sauna brought to your door, with the outdoor bath or the sea for the cold part.
A mobile sauna arrives at your residence and is set up where you want it: on the lawn, by the pool, or with the bush at your back. Heat, then cold. The outdoor bath, the pool, or a run to the beach does the second part, and the fire or a hot drink does the third. It suits the end of a long day outdoors, a slow winter afternoon, and a group who want something to do together that is not a meal.
A morning or an afternoon, at any residence with room to set it up. Towels and water provided. Tell us how many, and Bluestone Estate confirms the timing.
Build my itinerary
Every Signature Experience can be arranged by Bluestone Estate, so you never chase a supplier. Add anything that catches your eye to your itinerary as you read, then send the list to us as a quote request. It works at either moment: while you are still deciding on a stay and want to know what a week here could hold, or once you have booked and want the days planned before you arrive. We come back with prices, timings that fit your dates, and a suggested order, and nothing is confirmed until you say so.
My itinerary
Tell us when you are coming, or hoping to, and Bluestone Estate replies with a priced itinerary: bookings, timings, transfers, and the table at the end of the day. Ask before you book, or after. Either is welcome.
Bespoke tours
Our exclusive touring partner builds a private day around your party: vineyards, makers, the market, parks and beaches, with a local guide who collects you at the door and handles everything in between.
Bespoke Tours with Terra & TideWho we host
Booking units: the Boat House, the Studio, the Safari Tents, the Cabins
Absolute privacy and beautiful simplicity, one hour from Auckland. Arrive by Friday evening; be somewhere else entirely by dinner.
Booking units: the Main House, the Farmhouse, or sole occupancy of a property
A luxury family holiday where the house works as hard as you rest. Room for everyone, long lunches, kids in the paddock, no one has to cook unless they want to. Travelling with your own nanny? We can accommodate them on the Main Estate by arrangement.
Booking units: the Main House, or sole occupancy of the Main Estate
A private New Zealand coastal collection, total discretion, twenty minutes from Auckland by helicopter.
Booking units: any residence, matched to the group
The finest private base for a New Zealand golf journey: forty minutes from Te Arai Links, tailored hosting, and the whole coast for the days between rounds.
Booking units: Sole occupancy of the Main Estate or the Ridge, the Farmhouse with the Cookhouse
A private coastal sanctuary where thinking and celebrating come easily, with chef-led dinners at the Cookhouse for one table of twelve to eighteen.
Bluestone