The Timaru Herald

Rich local flavour on Great Barrier

Escaping the Auckland metropolis, Brett Atkinson finds that the sustainabl­e future of the city’s farthest-flung island is in very safe hands.

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Friday morning in central Auckland has never felt so serene. Courtesy of New Zealand’s most idiosyncra­tic electoral boundary, I’m discoverin­g getting an early start in the Auckland Central catchment can also include zipping across the glassy waters of Whangapara­para Harbour on Great Barrier Island.

Wispy curtains of mist remain welded to the harbour’s forest-shrouded valley, the site of New Zealand’s biggest sawmill just over a century ago, while morning sunshine peeps tentativel­y above a verdant ridge to the east.

My guide for the morning is Benny Bellerby, born on the island also known as Aotea, and a man with serious Barrier credential­s.

Between forest hikes with Star Treks, Bellerby works as an arborist and track maintenanc­e whizz with the Department of Conservati­on, and shares an off-the-grid home with wife Eve and their homeschool­ed children. Factor in a passion for protecting Aotea’s natural and cultural heritage, and he’s the perfect guide to his island home.

Also knowledgea­ble about educating kids on a remote island are Tony and Carol Litherland. They’ve lived on the harbour in their ocean-going steel catamaran, dubbed the Argo, since the early 1980s, and soon after Tony eases his tender up to the 15-metre home-built vessel, it’s obvious it’s a comfortabl­e live-aboard houseboat. Ensconced in a cosy combinatio­n of cabin, lounge and library, coffee and banana cake provide sustenance as Tony and Carol recount changes in Barrier life across the past four decades.

Educating their family was done by mail and radio with the Correspond­ence School, while grocery shopping was a major and infrequent exercise. Now, Benny and Eve’s children are linked to the world via the internet, and Tony and Carol order online from a mainland supermarke­t and pick up boxes of supplies from Whangapara­para’s nearby wharf.

Tucked into a compact cove on the harbour’s western edge, the Argo is moored adjacent to the remains of New Zealand’s last whaling station, operating for just six years from 1957 to 1963. A badminton net flutters incongruou­sly in the morning breeze, a reminder that the station’s exposed platform doubles as a harboursid­e backyard for the Litherland family.

On the Argo’s port side is the rusted pea-green skeleton of the MV Wanganui, a Scottish-built dredge beached in the harbour in 2003 after decades working the Whanganui River and Milford Sound.

From the Argo, Tony ferries us back to a sheltered bay, and it’s a boots-off scramble in calfhigh water into the beach.

A forlorn phalanx of wooden poles is all that’s left of a wharf that once served the biggest timber mill in the southern hemisphere.

From 1908 to 1914, the Kauri Timber Company

Weaving up and down a pair of bush spurs through regenerati­ng forest, glimpses of the harbour are revealed through sylvan shade.

processed logs rafted from as far as Northland and the Coromandel Peninsula. A tramline dragged newly-felled trees from the forests surroundin­g the harbour.

A rusted steam traction engine provides decaying evidence of the industry from a century ago, and tracing the logs’ original route, the island’s Tramline Track is now a challengin­g 8km option for trampers.

It’s just one of the island tracks Benny knows well and, before setting off to tackle the easier but still spectacula­r Old Mill Track, he breaks out our beachside lunch.

At an off-the-grid destinatio­n where Aotea Brewing’s craft beer and award-winning Island Gin are both made sustainabl­y, it’s not surprising there’s also a Barrier spin to our snacks.

Wrapped in recyclable waxed paper, our scroggin is packed with organic nuts and carobdippe­d fruit, while chunky sandwiches are made from Eve’s homemade bread.

Weaving up and down a pair of bush spurs through regenerati­ng forest, glimpses of the harbour are revealed through sylvan shade. Leading the way downhill to the track’s conclusion at the Green Campsite, Benny recalls his work with DOC to gather precious ra¯ta¯ seeds to preserve the species from the ravages of the myrtle rust fungus.

Late morning in Auckland Central, it’s obvious the sustainabl­e future of the city’s farthest-flung island is in very safe hands.

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 ?? PHOTOS: GUY MAC ?? Tony Litherland has lived on the harbour surroundin­g Great Barrier Island since the early 1980s.
PHOTOS: GUY MAC Tony Litherland has lived on the harbour surroundin­g Great Barrier Island since the early 1980s.
 ??  ?? The MV Wanganui is a Scottish-built dredge homed in the harbour since 2003.
The MV Wanganui is a Scottish-built dredge homed in the harbour since 2003.
 ??  ?? A rusted steam traction engine provides decaying evidence of the island’s once thriving timber industry.
A rusted steam traction engine provides decaying evidence of the island’s once thriving timber industry.
 ??  ??
 ??  ?? Between forest hikes with Star Treks, Benny Bellerby works as an arborist and track maintenanc­e whizz with DOC, and shares an offthe-grid home with wife Eve and their home-schooled children.
Between forest hikes with Star Treks, Benny Bellerby works as an arborist and track maintenanc­e whizz with DOC, and shares an offthe-grid home with wife Eve and their home-schooled children.
 ??  ?? Tucked into a compact cove on the harbour’s western edge, the Argo is moored adjacent to the remains of New Zealand’s last whaling station.
Tucked into a compact cove on the harbour’s western edge, the Argo is moored adjacent to the remains of New Zealand’s last whaling station.

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