NZ: Great Barrier Island

Our target date to leave Whangarei was April 11, and after all the boat work we'd done for several months, we were ready to go. Great Barrier Island beckoned: a wild and scenic place with many secluded anchorages, the 45-mile trip provided an ideal sea trial for Second Wind  (and ourselves) after being tied to a dock for so long.

We did take care of a few tasks while there--e.g. re-starting the watermaker, which shouldn't be operated in a harbor area--but it was primarily a last chance to steep ourselves in the native bush we've come to love so much.

                    

The ferry from Auckland, which comes just once a week now that it's autumn,
dwarfs the small wharf at Port FitzRoy

Port FitzRoy is made up of a general store, a nurse's cottage, and a one-room library, 
pictured here; what else could a village need?

A waterfall near Akapoua Bay; the hike wasn't long, 
but did involve fording a stream several times

The famous silver fern is green on top, but silver on the undersides. 
Laying overturned fronds on the ground helped guide Maori on trails at night

I've always liked photos of people on trails with packs on their backs

Second Wind in Kaiaraara Bay (yes, that is spelled correctly), one of the many picturesque and protected anchorages within Port FitzRoy Harbour (yes, that's spelled correctly also)

On one of the best hikes we've ever taken, we expected the destination to look like this:

In the kauri logging days, the huge cut trees were floated behind this dam;
when the water was released, the logs crashed downstream into the bay far below
(this photo is from a brochure)

...when in fact it looked like this. Two years ago a major storm washed away much of the trail and most of the remnants of the dam.

It took a year, 10 bridges--including 3 high suspension bridges--and 618 stairs
to rebuild the 2-mile trail. Kiwis take their tramping seriously!

After being logged almost to extinction, kauri are now protected. Cutting is prohibited, and stations to clean shoes before entering trails help guard against disease.

 Scenes from the trail:

 At the end of the day, we returned to the beach for happy hour,
while being serenaded by a tui bird

(could there be gin & tonics in those thermoses?!)

There is nothing at Whangaparapara Harbour but a small lodge, a few scattered houses, 
a wharf, and a shed with trail maps and used books to trade. 
Time has stood still there; we were enchanted.

Having a beer at the lodge;
though it's busy in the summer, we were their only customers on that fall day

For our last hike in New Zealand--this year, anyway--we headed to Kaitoke Hot Springs.
The trail's boardwalk through a swamp was an interesting change of pace...

..and the hot springs, essentially a warm bath in the woods, were deliciously relaxing

Why not end with another waterfall photo? 
In a place where there are countless streams and the terrain is steep, waterfalls are common