...Originally had planned spend an entire fall semester (which is spring in New Zealand) on the island, but the realities of island life led to a change in plans. Passenger ferries ended their routes to the north end of the island, where we were going to live. The phone company continued to limit new lines, which in turn limited e-mail access to research libraries and government agency websites. And, as I learned, my older daughter would be in secondary school in New Zealand, and Great Barrier Island had no such school. Faced with dilemmas similar to those experienced by island residents, we adjusted. I was invited to be a visiting professor at Victoria University in the New Zealand capital of Wellington, where l could use the library, have access to government officials, and my daughters could go to school. After spending five weeks in Wellington, we were finally on our way to Great Barrier Island for four weeks. My younger daughter was looking forward to attending Okiwi Primary School, and my older daughter was anxious to meet her e-mail pen pal.

The water portion of our trip began from downtown Auckland where we shared a private ferry with a college class headed for northern Great Barrier Island. Auckland is located on a narrow isthmus between the Pacific Ocean and the Tasman Sea. To its east is the Hauraki Gulf, made of many islands that are partially sheltered by the Coromandel Peninsula, which extends northwest from the main landmass of the North Island. Great Barrier Island extends beyond the Coromandel, separated from it by the nineteen-kilometer (twelve miles) Colville Channel. The island itself is about forty kilometers (twenty-five miles) long and fifteen kilometers (ten miles) at its widest point. The spine of the island is made of extremely rugged, mountainous terrain, with the highest point, Mt. Hobson, at 621 meters. The few relatively flat areas are on the east side of the island, formed by beach deposition and streams flowing eastward. These beaches face an open ocean that stretches to Chile. The only two harbors on Great Barrier Island are on the west, or sheltered side, of the island. Tryphena is located on a bay in the southwest, and Port FitzRoy is located on a harbor on the northern part of the island.

Great Barrier Island was named by Captain Cook for the barrier it forms between the Hauraki Gulf and the open sea. The Maori name for it is Aotea, which means white cloud, just as the name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. I can easily imagine the Maori approaching New Zealand from the sea and seeing the island off in the distance shrouded in clouds along its high middle spine.

The Maori first visited the Aotea in the thirteenth century. In time, the Ngati Rehua became the people of Aotea, part of Ngati Wai tribe. Pakeha, New Zealanders of European descent, arrived in the early 1800s, and Great Barrier Island entered an era of booms and busts. The island experienced several whaling booms, the most recent in the 1950s. Copper was discovered on the north end of the island in 1841, but mining lasted only twenty-five years. Some of the miners remained on the island and established farms. Pastureland reached its height in the early 1900s when the island was home to more than 20,000 sheep. Farming declined in the late 1960s with the demise of the cream industry, increasing problems with shipping, and a decline in the fertility of the land. The Resource Management Act of 1991 also severely affected the options farmers had. They were unable to put in fences, dig drains, shift soil, or clear land without special permits, which were costly. Only one viable, full-time, commercial livestock farm remains on the island. In addition to whaling, mining, and farming, Great Barrier Island's stands of kauri were logged from 1926-1940.

Arriving on Northern Aotea

The trip from Auckland to Port FitzRoy was rough. As our ferry rose and fell in the swells, we acquired an appreciation for the reputation of New Zealand's rough seas. Just when I thought it was going to go on...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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