NORDLYS - New Zealand

New Zealand

NORDLYS

David and Annette Ridout

Sat 20 Nov 2004 23:00

Life at the other side of the world from the UK

Great Barrier Island

20th November 2004

I am writing this anchored in Whangaparapara Harbour on Great Barrier Island. The latter is some fifty miles from the centre of Auckland out in the Hauraki Gulf. It is a rugged scenic island that has just 1200 inhabitants for its 120 odd square miles. The feeling is of isolation and beautiful scenery rather than of a tourist attraction. So far we have done two walks, each of some four hours in duration and climbs of over 400 meters. One took us up to an old Kauri damn. This is a huge construction made in the early twentieth century to enable men to get the Kauri trees down to the sea and to then float them to Auckland for milling. The idea was to flood the steep sided valley in two places. They then felled the trees down the hill sides and into the lakes formed by the dams. Trip wires would then be pulled and the resulting torrents would wash the huge tree trunks down to the sea. Bearing in mind that the tree trunks were on average some eight meters in diameter and usually over forty meters high and that the sea was over four miles away you can see the result of letting the water go must have produced a terrifying spectacle even if one was standing well above it all. Nowadays we look back on this era and think of it as one of the worst of pillages of our environment and natural resources. This does not however minimise the fantastic feats that the lumber men achieved with nothing more than man powered jacks and physical labour. Kauri is one of the worlds most usable timbers. Hard, light for its durability and strength, it grows in perfectly straight trunks with few and only small branches. Today the only source is old tree roots which are turned into small pieces of furniture. Felling of the few remaining large trees being banned. New trees are growing but many years will pass before they can be felled and all are in preservation areas. Much of the dam is still there to see. I have been told I should build a small version in the garden for our grandchildren when I get home. Actually this sounds rather a fun idea if we end up with a water source.

So far we have been blessed by excellent weather for Annalise Hamilton's visit. Blue skies and gentle winds even if the temperature drops fast as the sun sets. We will potter around the Hauraki Gulf area for another week then settle back into Auckland where several things are to be done to the boat before we head north back to the Bay of Islands for Christmas. It is here that Nick, Jenny and George will join us.

I will now bring this webdiary to a temporary end. I hope to start again about April 2005 when we will be preparing for the passage back to Fiji. Having just read Ranulf Finnes biography of Scott I realise that the weather does change in its severity from year to year. Scott and his group perished in one of the worst autumns from a weather point of view that has been recorded in Antarctica. We on a much more humble note look forward, hopefully, to much kinder weather than our last year in the islands of the south west Pacific. Time will tell.

So dear readers may Annette and I wish you all a very happy and enjoyable festive season and all the best for 2005. We leave you with a few photos.

David and Annette