Adelaide Tong

Adelaide Tong’s journey to Waiheke began a long way from Oneroa.

Born in France, she was five when her family moved to Australia. She went on to build a career in the engineering and mining industries, spending more than a decade working predominantly in contract administration, including the demanding fly-in, fly-out world where organisation, accountability and getting the details right were simply part of the job.

After travelling extensively, Adelaide and Leon chose Waiheke as the place they wanted to call home. They bought their house here and returned to the island to have their first child, trading the transient rhythm of mining life for something considerably more permanent.

Together they established Leon’s fishing charter business, with Adelaide taking responsibility for the accounts, administration and much of what happens behind the scenes to keep a business running.

For more than five years she has also worked part-time as a project coordinator for an engineering company, a role that has given her valuable exposure to the practicalities of developing and improving island property, including geotechnical, wastewater and stormwater requirements.

But Adelaide’s connection with Waiheke extends beyond work.

For nearly three years she has served the island as a volunteer qualified firefighter, an involvement that has introduced her to still more corners of the community and reflects something fundamental about her character: when Adelaide commits to something, she gets involved.

Real estate brings those threads together.

She is organised, commercially experienced and comfortable dealing with technical information, but she is equally a people person. She understands that behind every property transaction there is usually something much bigger happening in someone’s life.

For Adelaide, joining Ray White in Oneroa is not simply a change of career. It is an opportunity to build something locally, alongside Leon, in the community they have chosen to raise their family in and call home.

And when you engage Adelaide, you get the benefit of not one, but two dedicated real estate professionals, with Adelaide and Leon Tong combining their individual strengths, experience and commitment to achieve the very best outcome for you and your property.

Their stories began on opposite sides of the world, but Leon and Adelaide Tong have built their life together on Waiheke.

Leon is a third-generation islander, born and raised on Waiheke and part of a family with deep roots in the local community. Adelaide was born in France, raised in Australia and spent more than a decade working in engineering and mining before Waiheke became home.

They met in Australia more than 15 years ago, during Leon’s eight-year stint working in the building and mining industries. After travelling the world together, there came a point when the question changed from where to go next, to where they wanted to build a life.

The answer was Waiheke.

They bought their home here, returned to the island to start their family and now have two children growing up in the same community Leon knows so well.

Along the way, they have also discovered that they work rather well together.

They established Leon’s fishing charter business as a team, Leon naturally gravitating towards people, relationships and being out on the water, while Adelaide brought the organisation, accounts and administration that kept everything working behind the scenes.

It is a partnership built around complementary strengths.

Leon brings a lifetime of Waiheke knowledge and more than a decade of experience in the local building industry. Adelaide brings a background in contract administration, engineering and project coordination, including practical exposure to geotechnical, wastewater and stormwater requirements. For nearly three years, she has also served the island as a volunteer qualified firefighter.

Together, they bring something else that is harder to put on a CV: they know this community, and this community knows them.

They may be new to real estate, but they are certainly not new to Waiheke.

For Leon and Adelaide, trust won’t be something manufactured for a marketing campaign. It comes from years of living here, working here, raising their children here and being accountable to the same people they see at the shops, on the beach, at school and around the village.

Now they are bringing that partnership to Ray White Waiheke Island.

And there is something particularly fitting about doing it from Oneroa, Leon’s home turf, where his parents operated businesses for many years and where another generation of the family is now beginning its own chapter.

Two different backgrounds. Two very different skill sets. One home, one family and one team.

Leon and Adelaide are ready to put all of it to work for Waiheke property owners.