Waiheke Island

Imagine an island with
- beautiful white sand beaches and blue ocean, with or without surf,
take your pick
- mountains and rolling hills revealing seriously stunning views at
nearly every turn
- vineyards and farms all over, with about 30 wineries (oh yeah, that
does mean fabulous food at every turn as well!)
- sheep, cows, horses rambling around the hills
- tropical foliage (palms, flowers, green everywhere) mixed in with so
many little microclimates on the island you go from rainforest-like to
grazing hills to vineyards and olive groves within a few minutes
- and you can drive around it and experience most of it in a day.
But I would have loved to stay longer to hike the trails and linger
longer everywhere we stopped!
That is Waiheke.  Just a 40 minute ferry from Auckland.  Part of the
Hauraki Gulf islands between Auckland and the Coromandel Peninsula and
dotted with little islands all over the place.  It was a bit overcast
while we were there so the pictures won't do it justice but trust me it was seriously beautiful.