Great Barrier Island is a rather large island to the north-east of Auckland, it’s probably good to check it out on google maps for a perspective, because it’s a decently long way trip. The only ways to get to Great Barrier are by plane and by ferry, and I’m sure everyone out there can guess which is cheaper, and therefore which one I immediately chose. Said ferry left at a nice and early 6:00AM, where they ask passengers to come 30-minutes early to get tickets and board. So I was up nice and early at 4:45 to give myself to eat some breakfast, and to bike down to the harbor.
Picture taken from the passenger area just after getting onto the ferry around 5:30 in the morning.
Looking back at the Auckland skyline as the sun starts to come up.
The initial part of the ferry ride was not so bad, as I was very exhausted and so I was lying down nearly asleep. But relatively soon the rather rough seas started to get to me and I was getting some rather intense motion sickness. This was unfortunate, because at the time I was fully aware that the ferry ride is about 4 and a half hours long. So I did what any self-respecting physics major would do and found the approximate center of mass of the boat and positioned myself there, so as to minimize the motion of the boat. The only problem is that this was outside and it was quite chilly out in the pre-dawn/early morning over the harbor, so I had to throw on all my layers and huddle myself up in order to stay out where the ships motion was tolerable.
Luckily I did get a short break from my misery about an hour and a half into the trip when I saw a streak of silver in the water and the looked towards the wake of the ship to see a group of dolphins swimming long with the ferry. I tried my best to get some pictures, but I was really without the equipment, and I lost some time having to run and get the camera (I was slowed by the ship’s passenger area rising/falling 3 feet every few seconds). But here is what I managed to get, I promise if you look close enough there are dolphins in all these pictures:
Just as he's coming down from a jump.
Three at once!
After the dolphins swam off I distracted myself by taking pictures from the ferry.
This is a shot of the northern tip of the Coromandel peninsula.
Another one...
First decent shot of Great Barrier
Another shot of Great Barrier.
After getting off the boat (I was very happy to be on solid ground again) I rode my bike down the only road in sight. I didn’t really know where the accommodation I had booked was, just that it was in the area of the ferry landing, so I was set to do some exploring to find it. I got a surprise about 15 minutes into my bike ride along the road when a (and probably the only) passenger shuttle from the ferry landing stopped in front of me and the driver climbed out to introduce herself as Christine and ask if I was Erik. A little startled I said yes and she told me that she was the owner of the accommodation that I had booked and that she wouldn’t be around to greet me but I should just head in and make myself at home and she would be by later on in the evening. At the time I was a little confused as to how she knew it was me, but I later learned that there were probably no more then 10 tourists on the island when I was there, and so for her it was simply a process of elimination after seeing me some off the ferry. As I headed toward what I later learned was the “town” of Tryphena (more like a shop a café and some scattered accommodations/houses). I took a few shots of the surroundings:
The water was very clear.
Looking back across the bay toward the ferry landing.
I biked past the café and shop and I noted several different signs pointing to accommodations, but nothing for the “Runaway Lodge” which I was looking for. I was getting to what almost looked like the end of the road that followed the coast, which I figured was the main road, so I started asking the locals for directions. Both older gentlemen that I ran into did not know exactly where Runaway Lodge was, but they pointed me back towards the center of town, so I headed back that way and decided I would see if I could find a cheap bite at the café (now that I was recovering from the motion sickness and felt like eating) and get some directions. In the café I found a muffin that was probably bigger then my two hands clasped together for about $2US, so I figured that would make a good lunch, and from the people I talked to in the café I learned that Runaway was down one of the roads I had taken to be side-streets, but were actually main roads. I found the lodge about a quarter mile down the road and easily found my room.
I was pretty shocked to see the room, I had looked at a bunch of different accommodation photos online, so I had forgotten just what I was getting for the $17/night. It was a large, 2 room unit with a kitchen area, full bathroom, free coffee/tea, a fridge, even a loft and 5 beds. I was hoping at the time that I had gotten the price right because it seemed to be quite the spot for such a low price.
A shot from just inside the doorway, there is a table and some other stuff just out of sight to the right.
There was even free soap, but alas, no mints on the pillows.
Looking out the door.
Down at the lodge from a little footpath, my unit was the closest part of the building.
My bed set-up.
I was actually a little worried when I get settled in and started looking at what my options for hikes would be because I realized that all the hikes were going to be well outside my biking range. Just as I was fretting about this issue I got a knock on the door and found Christine and her husband Wayne. The explained to me that Wayne worked for the main Great Barrier Island shuttle service, and that for about $25 a day they would drive me to the start of a trail, and then pick me up later in the day at the end of the trail. This worked great for me because it instantly eliminated my travel troubles. Christine also gave me a place to store my bike, the unit next door. So my bike was living it up in a 2 bedroom unit all to itself, and she also showed me into the nicest of the three units which had a T.V. and a nice sofa and invited me to make use of that one as well because I was the only guest at the accommodation. So I basically had an entire 3 unit accommodation all to myself. After watching a little T.V. and doing some reading about Great Barrier flora and fauna, I hit the hay early-I was very exhausted from my unfortunate ferry ride and excited about getting to set out and explore the island.