Above: Flying to Great Barrier at low altitude.
It was only a 30 minute flight from Auckland to the Barrier on a Britten Norman Islander. We left from North Shore Airfield rather than Auckland Airport, not only because of the proximity to our home but also to avoid parking hassles/costs at a big airport.
Due to cloudy conditions, we flew rather low, below the clouds all the way to the Barrier before landing at Tryphena Airport. We picked up our rental car and drove to our accommodation at Shoal Bay.
The roads were windy and for some reason, I had become quite sensitive to motion. I nearly threw up.
We spent some time with our hosts (parents of a friend) before going to our own chalet. I was still feeling unwell. I forced dinner down at the pub and tried to keep it down through the car ride back.
It was an early night for me and I retired around 1900!
There were brief breaks in the weather to give an impression that it was a good day.
A few things about the Barrier … while on the face of it, people have a normal small town life, it gets more complicated than that:
- There is no power supply and people rely on solar energy. That means that it is important to conserve energy; no big TVs, toasters, hairdryers, microwaves!
- Locals are reliant on rainwater for drinking and washing. Roofs are kept clean and water is kept in tanks.
- Provisions and fuel are expensive. A bag of breakfast muesli was about double the price of that on the mainland, at more than $10.