Great Barrier Island vignettes 2020, Part 3

This post is about Gail's &  my visit to (a) the northern part of Great Barrier Island and (b) Tryphena on the West coast. I've also included photos of us as carefree schoolgirls in 1963-1964.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

LL from Port Fitzroy had invited us to lunch, and so we collected the Englishman from his home and drove north on winding Aotea Road. This road, which was unsealed before Great Barrier became part of Auckland Super City, climbs up through bush and ferns – the scenery is completely different to the dry south. LL and his wife have built a fine house incorporating a tourist flat overlooking Port Fitzroy. LL said he can feel his guests begin to unwind as soon as they reach this beautiful spot. A builder by trade, he also is a keen reader. He said he educated himself by reading novels – and that my World War II novel Deserter; a novel based on true events* is exactly the sort of book he likes to read. David promised to lend him his copy.

Great Barrier is an excellent place for outdoor recreation. All Department of Conservation land on the island became the Aotea Conservation Park in April 2015, and the Department has issued a booklet with a detailed map of walking and tramping tracks, and routes, along with DOC Campsites and huts, and areas where mountain bikes can be used.

DOC map of Great Barrier Island walking tracks. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

By early afternoon there was a dramatic change in the weather. When we arrived on Sunday, David was badly needing rain to fill – or at least half fill – his tank. Today his wish was granted. The rain bought low visibility, and despite Great Barrier Air’s sophisticated navigation systems, at least one of their planes was unable to land. Two stranded tourists arrived at Wiltshire Manor: Luke and Lucille, young English doctors who had spent a fortnight tramping on the Barrier.

David’s ‘guest in residence’, I’ll call him Tony, proved a great help in showing new guests the ropes. He’s a long time Barrier resident who enjoys buying top quality photographic equipment and tramping boots but resents spending money on his car. This vehicle has long been unwarranted and unregistered – many locals used to drive that way – but Tony was pulled up the other day by the local policeman. The latter was very reasonable and gave him 28 days to replace four tyres, get the brakes fixed, and arrange for the rust cut out. Gail and I suggested it might be cheaper to buy a new car, but Tony likes his old one. 

Wednesday January 15, 2020.

Fortunately for the stranded tourists, the rain cleared. Once he'd seen them off, David drove us over the spine of hills to Tryphena on the West Coast for coffee at the Mulberry Grove General Store. Gail and I shared a large almond Danish pastry flown over from Auckland. The café/store was buzzing with tourists who'd arrived on the ferry; and two sisters played lively duets on the piano.

Mulberry Grove General Store, Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

In the afternoon, green-fingered Gail and I went for a stroll and she added to her collection of cuttings (it doesn’t include protected plants). The collection includes a yellow daisy from LL’s wife; a Scarborough lily from David; and peppermint-scented pelargonium and a hedging plant from David's Kaitoke friend. 

Gail Watson on Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

At 6 o’clock we were entertained to dinner at the Englishman’s house. He had fought off his jet lag to prepare us Italian-style spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, fresh asparagus and a poached egg. A professional man who took early retirement, he acknowledges he’s out of condition and lacking motivation. Gail and I suggested he could find an enthusiastic business partner and set up a gym in his basement – he could charge others to use the gym. There are already other enterprises at Claris including electric bike hire, a chippery, and a sarong shop.

Sarong shop at Claris, Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie Jan. 2020

*

From the photo album: (1) Papakura High School sports day 1963. Jill Mitchel in track suit, Robyn Stuart in school uniform; Val George, Ann Herbert & Gail Watson in sports rompers and ready to cheer on Freyburg House.

Papakura High school 16-year olds out cycling in the country. From left to right: Annette Hawke, Val George, Gail Watson, Elizabeth Tremaine, Jacky Fagan, and, on horseback, Iris de Malmanche:

https://www.amazon.com/Deserter-novel-based-true-events/dp/0473390655

Blog by Ann Barrie. To be continued.

Great Barrier Island vignettes 2020, Pt 2

The Auckland region is currently in alert level 3 lockdown because of Coronavirus, and permanent residents of Great Barrier Island have their island paradise to themselves. This blog about Day 2 of Gail’s and my visit to the Barrier is a short one. By popular request, I’ve also included snapshots of our days at Papakura High School.

Monday, January 13, 2020

Gail and I were surprised how much the temperature dropped during the night, so after breakfast we remade our beds with extra blankets. Then we walked to Ocean View Road from where we could access Kaitoke Beach. As we crunched along the fine sand, our eyes were drawn skyward by the buzz of a small plane, which made five approaches to the airport before circling away. Another walker told us it will be a new pilot learning the terrain. 

The walk to Kaitoke Beach, best done in bare feet. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

Later in the morning, David took us to visit a friend of his, near Kaitoke School. She lives part time in Tauranga and part time on the Barrier, and commutes between the two by Sun Air. She has installed tourist cabins on her land and is a keen gardener. She says last week was blustery and overcast, and Gail and I brought hot calm weather with us.

Tourist cabin Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

After lunch we explored David’s Milk Honey and Grain Museum. It has a waterwheel at the entrance, and activities for children such as grinding wheat. Inside, there are detailed displays on the history of Great Barrier Island’s early settlers. The museum's themes include industry, technology, and historic events such as shipwrecks. There is honey and other local produce for sale, and also David’s generously illustrated book Barrier Baches Cottages and Shacks.

Children's activity Milk Honey & Grain Museum, Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

Barrier Baches Cottages and Shacks by David Watson. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

Local produce at Milk Honey & Grain Museum, Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

By the time we returned to the house, David had another dropper-inner, this time an English friend, who had just returned to the Barrier after his twice-yearly trip abroad to far-flung family

Blog by Ann Barrie. To be continued.

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Photos from our school days at Papakura High School in the 1960s (sorry they're so large – I haven't yet mastered the updated blogger). We were wholesome, sporty girls who biked everywhere. Several times, we and our friends, cycled out to Mareiti Beach for a weekend at the bach of Gail's parents: Dr and Mrs Watson. 

Our preferred activities were eating, reading and swimming, as these photos show:

Here we are on out bikes, preparing to ride home:

Our friend Annette doesn't feature in these photos – she must have been the photographer – so here's a photo from Primary School days. Weka Junior Basketball Team 1957. Annette is at centre front, and Val and I are to her left. 

Great Barrier Island vignettes 2020, Part 1

I drafted these blogs, carefree, shortly after I visited Great Barrier in January. I’m sombre now as coronavirus sweeps the world. But hey, we’re lucky enough to live in New Zealand, and the Barrier beckons beautiful as ever. So I’m posting the blogs unchanged. I’ve written a little story, as is my wont, but you can skip to the photos if that’s what you prefer.

Plane at Claris aerodrome. Photo Ann Barrie 2020

Sunday January 12, 2020. Early afternoon. Auckland Airport Regional Lounge

I pace up and down. ‘It’s past the time when they said we’d board. Do you think we missed the call,’ I say to my friend Gail.

‘Hmmm. We’re probably on Barrier time already.’

‘Go back to the check-in counter,’ I insist, ‘and ask what’s happening.’

Gail wanders off, and my stress levels rise when she doesn’t reappear after five minutes. We were at High School together 45 years ago, but this is our first time travelling with just the two of us. Was she always this laid back?

I march to the counter demanding, ‘What’s happening with our flight?’

The Great Barrier Air employee gestures at four young people who are also waiting, and says he will make the call in a minute.  We are joined by an older woman with chic grey hair and long silver earrings; she’s dressed in white pants and a blue striped chambray shirt, and is carrying a sheaf of roses. She introduces herself. I smile at the lilt in her voice, and she explains she is Irish, fell in love with a New Zealander in London and has lived on the Barrier for 25 years.

The seven of us are driven in a buggy to our plane – a Cessna Grand Caravan – and we file into our seats. The pilot, already up front, gives us a safety briefing, and leaves us to fasten our 3-point belts. It all seems very casual, and this makes me a little nervous.

We are quickly airborne, and cool air rushes past my face. It will take 30 minutes to fly from Auckland Airport to Great Barrier, and we have almost 360° views. There’s a flat sea with white trails from small craft far beneath us. Waiheke Island is to our right. Cape Colville is to our left; and then a small island. ‘That’s Hauturu Little Barrier’, the Irishwoman explains. ‘And those are the Broken Islands. We don’t usually approach from this direction.’ We make a smooth landing onto a short sealed strip, then bump across the grass toward Claris Airport terminal. (This aerodrome is uncontrolled, but I’m assured the planes have the latest technology.) There’s no publicly funded transport on Great Barrier, but visitors can pre-arrange island transport – you can hire a car or a bike, or use the shuttle transfer service.

Gail’s brother David is kindly waiting with his car to meet us, even though we could have trundled our suitcases to his house, which is nearby. A former school teacher, he has lived on Great Barrier for many years and runs the quaint and quirky Milk Honey and Grain Museum, and, in the house alongside the museum, the Wiltshire Manor Backpackers.

Wiltshire Manor Accommodation, Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie 2020.

Milk Honey & Grain Museum, Great Barrier Island. Photo Ann Barrie 2020.

By the time we return from the airport, a ginger-headed man who loves to yarn, and cheerfully accepts the nickname ‘Linger Longer’, is sitting in David’s living room. The islanders need each other, and I soon learn that David is patient with the many visitors who drop in on him. We have tea and Christmas cake, and LL issues a lunch invitation for Tuesday before driving north to his home in Port Fitzroy.

David takes us for a pre-dinner swim at Medlands, a beautiful white sand surf beach. He is a tall man and he strides confidently into the breakers, with me following. Gail wisely stays in the shallows. After being dumped roughly, I follow her example. She says one of the locals was caught in a rip there some years ago, and managed to extricate himself, but for a long time was too embarrassed to mention it. There are no lifeguards on Great Barrier. 

Knowing that most things need to be freighted in to Great Barrier and are expensive, we have arrived with suitcases packed with food, although we find David’s larder and fridge well-stocked. He has installed modern gas rings in the back packers’ kitchen, but delights in using old-fashioned methods in his own quarters at the back of the house. He warms my giant sausage roll in his camp oven whilst boiling potatoes on his other hob, and we eat this with tomatoes, avocado and salad greens. Gail and I are both tired, so we retire early to our shared bedroom in the backpackers’ quarters. I’m already feeling as if I’m overseas, out of my usual comfort and time zone.

Ann Barrie, Gail Watson & David Watson. Great Barrier Island, 2020

Blog by Ann Barrie. To be continued.

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We were aged 14 in this photo (Gail is in the front row and I'm behind her). Ann Barrie:

And here we are, standing together, in our class photo for that same year. Ann Barrie: