I used the opportunity in Auckland to book a ferry to and flight from Great Barrier Island (Aotea), the largest island in the Hauraki Gulf and a place I have always wanted to visit. It has a small population spread over several isolated settlements and a large amount of forest that, while mostly stripped of its largest kauri trees, is still nice sub-tropical lowland forest with great variety. The island has a rather extensive trail network for its size, not to mention two very nice hot springs. Despite being a holiday weekend, I found most of the trails satisfactorily quiet.
I took the ferry over late on Friday once relieved of my orienting responsibilities arriving as the sun set. I got a ride from a friendly Scottish woman and her 6 month old to the trailhead and walked through the trees and boardwalked swamps by headlamp. There was a great abundance of mosquitoes about and I would have many bites by the end of my stay on the island. After setting up and having a meal, I calmed my nerves with a candle-lit soak in one of the Kaitoke hot pools. I remember the forest had an eerie creak to it as the trees bent in the breeze. Exploring the following morning determined I happened to find the best pool the previous night, though there were a half dozen other good pools for soaking. I took off as a large group arrived and did not see anyone else on the trails through the middle of the forest that day. I took the Tramline Track through a nice nikau palm grove and spent about a half hour trying to find Peach Tree Hot Springs. After much walking in circles I determined the GPS coordinates I had were wrong, I followed vague trails and vaguer directions and found the springs with no trouble. A nice deep pool had been carved out of the altered andesite and is supposedly at least as old as 1930, but potentially dates to the late 1800s. It had a rather scummy appearance from disuse but the temperature was great and I settled in for a great soak until I could stand the mosquitoes no more.
I then took the Peach Tree trail which steadily climbed up ridges towards the high peaks of Mt Heale and Hirakimata. As I climbed the forest gave way to manuka scrub. At intervals the trail gave great views of the rugged east coast and the seemingly random volcanic landscape (a cliff here, a couple pinnacles here, a flat topped mountain there and rugged gorges over yonder). Before long I reached the new Mt Heale Hut with its thoughtfully spectacular view of the islands and inlets around Port Fitzroy and Little Barrier in the distance. I found a suitable place for a hammock and within 10 minutes of setting it up it started sprinkling! Still I enjoyed the view from the patio as the sun set through clouds.
View from Mt Heale Hut
In no particular rush, I enjoyed a long morning at the hut reading and writing before finally packing up to go. The track up and down from Hirakimata was a test piece in DOC track-building OCD with a near-continuous boardwalk with stairs for perhaps over a kilometer (apparently to protect black petrel nesting sites). The view from the top was grand and demonstrated perfectly the vastly different nature of the rugged oceanic east coast with long beaches and rocky headlands, and the relatively sheltered Hauraki Gulf side with its many intricate inlets and islands. I then took the Kaiaraara track down what must be the most impressive valley on the island. Bedrock is exposed in the stream nearly the whole way indicating it had not yet recovered from the massive human-made floods in attempts to float kauri logs conveniently down to sea. I stopped for a swim whenever convenient to cool down from the tropical humidity. The opposite side of the valley boasted impressive vertical-jointed cliffs that made for dramatic landscape that peeked through the bush. The landscape really reminded me of the Coromandel, though thankfully a touch more pristine with less roads and forestry blocks.
The Lower Kauri dam (fronticepiece) was quite an impressive engineering feat considering its remoteness. 1930 bushmen loggers built these impressive dams, which they would pile up large kauri logs behind. The dam would be tripped, releasing a terrifying flood of enormous logs and crashing water that would ream their way down to the coast where they could be put to use as ship's masts or otherwise. I had a nice quiet evening in the Kaiaraara Hut (I had it to myself!), and found the perfect place to set up the hammock and listen to the birdsong. Good swimming holes nearby too.
View for the top of Hirakimata
The following day I took the Forest Road track back across the island, to the Tramline track and back to the hot springs. I enjoyed a final dip up to the last minute, then hiked out, got a painless hitch to the Crossroads and walked to the Claris airport just in time. Being the only solo person on the plane I got to sit in the co-pilot's seat which definitely had the best views. 25 minutes later we landed at Auckland Airport and I am on my way to Dunedin. It made for a really nice sub-tropical getaway and I really appreciated the few days untied to my computer and thesis.
1 comment:
I miss palm trees. And you bro : ' )
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