Matakana Farmers Market

Matakana's market has run since 2004 in a purpose-built pavilion on the riverbank, and it holds to the farmers' market principle more strictly than most in New Zealand: stallholders sell what they grow, catch or make, and resellers are excluded. That produces a smaller market than a general one but a more consistent one - vegetables picked the day before, olive oil and wine from the surrounding hills, cheese, smoked fish from the coast, bread, and prepared food to eat there. The Matakana district around it has developed into a food and wine pocket over twenty years, with vineyards, an oyster industry at Whangateau, and a cinema and shops in the village. It is comfortably in the Auckland weekend-drive zone, which is both why it thrives and why it is crowded and priced higher than a local market. Saturday mornings only, and it stops before lunch.

What you actually see

• The growers themselves - resellers excluded, so the seller grew it.
• The local specialities - olive oil, wine, cheese and coastal smoked fish.
• The riverside pavilion - the purpose-built market building.
• The wider district - vineyards, orchards and oyster farms around it.

When to go

Saturday mornings, roughly 8am to 1pm, year-round. Produce is at its best from November to April. Arrive early; Auckland day-trippers fill the car park by mid-morning.

Honest expectations

Saturday mornings only, and over by early afternoon. Prices are weekend-visitor prices, not local ones. Parking is limited and the village gets congested in summer.

Nearby

Matakana village and its vineyards are alongside; Tawharanui and Goat Island are east.