Great Barrier Island - DKT Page 13

On Friday (two days ago) Ross Stewart delivered Tyler’s buddy from home, Rusty Johnson, to us at the Hyatt and since then we’ve been scurrying about Auckland trying to take in a little culture, and getting ready for Great Barrier Island. It’s only due to an extraordinary set of circumstances that Rusty gets to buzz around with us for the next few weeks. We’re very grateful to his parents for letting him miss school for this long. K. and D. will do our best to keep the boys thinking. With Rusty and his couple of bags we’ve finally got too much junk to fit inside the Mitsy. Dan strapped the boogie bag and large orange duffel onto the roof.

We queued up to drive aboard the ferry ‘Lara’ at 0930. The vessel had room for only eight vehicles and it was a full boat. We’d made our reservations almost a year ago. The day was almost windless for the 60-mile crossing to ‘The Barrier’. The water was indigo blue and along the way we saw great schools of leaping kahawei and diving seabirds.

After a 3.5 hour passage the barge pulled into Tryphena Bay and when we drove off the ramp there we found Jenny and Bernie Whistler, waiting to escort us around the bay to HiLook Cottage. Jenny has lived on Barrier her entire life and the property at HiLook has been in her family for generations. It is a beautiful spot, located on a hill above the bay, looking across at Tryphena Wharf.

Our first day exploring GBI. Roads are few and very narrow. We needed fishing gear so asked around until we eventually met up with Ron Gifford, a scoundrel who charges too much for bad service, but we hadn’t much choice. We were short one boogie board until we met a nice lady at the market at Gooseberry Flat who had an extra one she offered us for Rusty to use.

We drove across the island on the only east-west road, gravel and badly corrugated. Jeffrey Whistler (Jenny’s 15 year-old son) accompanied us to show us the way and where to find some favorite beaches. At Awana Beach we stopped and had a picnic under a giant pohutukawa tree. It was a beautiful white-sand beach about two miles long, clear water with great waves, and nary a soul on the beach but us. Ty and Rusty burned off a lot of pent-up energy, boogeying and beating each other up.

Tyler and Rusty spent the morning at Tryphena wharf, fishing for yellowtail. We can look right across the bay at them from the veranda of HiLook and communicate every half-hour via walkie-talkie.

The boys didn’t have much luck so when a fishing boat pulled in to unload its catch we bought two nice snapper. This is how we met Paul Whaanga, a Maori fisherman who kept us supplied with fresh fish for the next two weeks. Paul is a soft-spoken, kind and very hard-working man, always wearing a smile. He’s putting two girls through college by going out every morning by himself in his old iron scow and long-lining for trevally and snapper.

Last night we were plagued by mozzies. In the morningTy and Rusty had over 100 bites on them, despite burning mosquito coils through the night. It is so warm and humid that we’ve got to keep the windows open, and they are not screened. Our dear neighbor next door, Joan Thompson, saved us by loaning us mosquito netting. Joan shares her beautiful kauri-beamed home with a character named Louie (the dog). She’s generous and gracious and well-traveled and well-read, and like Jenny’s, her family has lived on The Barrier for generations. Kaaren and Joan hit it off and greatly enjoy each other’s company.

Our plane lifted off from SeaTac five months ago on this date, and we’re doing fine.

Kaaren baked a superb chocolate cake today . . . no mean trick in the bitty and cantankerous gas oven.

Thunderous rain last night. It’s a good thing in light of low water supplies. Mozzie netting worked well last night . . . plenty of bugs, but they couldn’t get to us.

Ty and Rusty rowed out from HiLook and fished. They caught several small snapper, which they filleted and Kaaren fried up for supper.

Dan snorkeled off point in front of house . . . spotted several lobsters, but too small.

We drove up-island for a return to Awana Beach where the boys went dune-surfing. On the beach the waves are still too steep and chopped-up for good boogey-boarding, so Ty and Rusty spent hours chasing fish up and down the Awana River with their spear.

The boys spent a couple hours doing homework, and then we drove to Horatoanga Beach. Again we had one of the prettiest strands in the world totally to ourselves. Good waves today.

Ty and Rusty boogied for awhile, then started digging holes . . .

After dinner the boys went spearfishing in the shallows in front of HiLook. A small mullet and a yellowtail had the misfortune to cross the path of these deadly hunters. The mutilated little fishy corpses were put in the freezer for snapper bait.

T. and R. went fishing at the wharf. Rusty caught a beautiful John Dory.

After supper Kaaren and Dan visited Joan next-door for coffee and biscuits.

After midnight Kaaren was awakened by what sounded like waves breaking on the beach; except that is was a perfectly calm night. Dan woke the boys and went down to investigate. The water was greasy smooth, no moon, trillions of stars, tide was way low. Suddenly the headwaters of Shoal Bay absolutely erupted as acres of baitfish flew out of the water in flight from large predators below. This went on for hours. It was too far out from shore to distinguish what was what, but probably a huge shoal of yellowtail being herded by kingfish and kahawei. Wading through the shallows we could follow the track of every swimming fish by the light of brilliant noctiluca. By flashlight we could see goatfish, schools of piper (halfbeaks), yellowtail, wrasse, triggerfish, and trumpetfish.

Did homework. Revisited Horataonga Beach for picnic and boogying. Great waves today.

K. sat under the umbrella and read. Rusty and Ty and Rusty bathed in a warm tidepool, guarded by a pair of Sooty Oystercatchers.

Trevally and John Dory sashimi for dinner.

Today we woke up early and hiked three kilometers into some hotsprings that Joan had told us about. She gave us directions how to find biggest deepest pool.

Water was very comfortable, not too sulphurous and just as warm as a hot bath. We soaked for an hour or so then headed back through the forest.

Paul Whaanga came by and gave us a bag of fresh gunnard and shark fillets.

We sliced up the gunnard and the boys fixed sushi for supper.

Kaaren braved driving the treacherous GBI roads and drove to market at Gooseberry Flat. Today is fresh produce day and for any selection at all one must be there when it arrives from the mainland.

We had scheduled with Dennis Stanley to take us out on a fishing trip this evening, but he stopped by early to tell us he won’t be able to take us fishing due to damage to his hand (caught his fingers in a generator belt . . . ouch!) He’s flying to Auckland tomorrow a.m. to have tendons on two fingers reattached.

Reluctantly we approached Ron Gillard (scoundrel, see above . . .) about taking us out. He said okay.

Considering what Ron charged us, and what a jerk he was, our fishing trip was pretty much a bust. Gillard was late arriving, and by then the wind kicked up hard from the north so we couldn’t go far offshore. We motored to a sheltered bay and floated live yellowtail out on balloons trying to catch a kingfish. Kaaren caught a trevally, Rusty a John Dory, Dan a nice snapper, Tyler a Terake (tare-ah-kee).

Today we tried Medlands Beach. Great waves and good boogey boarding.

Dan got dumped by a big one and got separated from his togs in the surf.

Kaaren and Dan climbed Memorial Rock, which bears a plaque commemorating GBI’s first European settlers.

Jenny and Bernie came by to say goodbye. They’ve put HiLook on the market and have a prospective buyer so we’re probably the last who will stay there before new owners take over.

Jeffrey bought Ty’s boogey board for $50.

Packed up, headed down to the wharf and said goodbye to Paul Whaanga. We drove back onto the ‘Lara’ for the return trip to Auckland.

Again the weather was delightful for our return voyage, and is her wont at the end of each leg of our trip, K. is quiet and thoughtful.

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