Easter on Great Barrier Island

We decided to make the most of the Easter break and head over to Great Barrier island - a 2.5 hr ferry ride from Auckland. The island was the setting for the most recent BBC Castaway series, and the laid back nature and remote setting certainly made us feel like cast aways from Auckland.



Sunset on the ferry



Unloading the bags from the ferry in a human chain!

After spending the first night in a B&B (adjacent to the Irish Pub/Store/Post Office/Bus stop!), we got a lift with the Post Man/Bus Driver to the other side of the Island, Port Fitzroy. The trip took an hour and demonstrated the contrasting beauty of the coastline.



The beach at Tryphena



Medlands Beach



Great Barrier Coastline

We pitched our tent at the Department of Conservation campsite there, and spent the afternoon relaxing in the peace and quiet.



Time for a Brew



View from Chateau Gregory



Our tent



Sunset at Port Fitzroy

Easter Saturday was spent taking the beautiful walk up to the top of Mt Hobson, the highest mountain on the 'Barrier' at just over 600m. The area was logged extensively for Kauri timber early in the 1900s, and has a number of historic structures showing evidence of this. The climb up Mt Hobson passes a number of Kauri dams, holding points for the huge logs before they were flushed down the streams to the Port.



Port Fitzroy



Kauri Dam





At the summit



This summit was fuelled by Kendal Mint cake



On the trail



Returning to camp

The streams running down from Mt Hobson provided the opportunity for a number of dips and swims in their icy cold waters.



Refreshing foot dip



It's much colder than it looks!

We returned to Tryphena on Easter Monday, ready for our evening ferry ride back to civilisation. Great Barrier provided a wonderful get away for us, and a fantastic combination of hiking and beaches.