Islands: Great Barrier Island, New Zealand

These images derive from a stay on Great Barrier Island in the summer (February) of the year 2023. My apologies for the lengthy post.

Let me start with an image taken during the flight back to Auckland. In the far back you see Little Barrier Island, a nature reserve (and in the haze behind it you can see the Northern Island on the left, Pokohinu and Motukino Islands at the right). The group of small islands at the upper left are the Junction Islands, Rangiahua and Mahuki Island. In the foreground, almost directly on the flight path, is Whangara Island.

#1 Little Barrier Island and its environment


Barrier Air connects the island with Auckland and other airports on the Northern Island - very much to be recommended!

#2 Barrier Air


It is recommended since taking the ferry from Auckland to Great Barrier Island is nothing for the bad sailor. The currents in the Hauraki Gulf are strong, swell can be considerable and the seaworthiness of the ferry - probably due to its design - seems to be limited (on my crossing the swell was 1.5m, the majority of passengers turned out to be bad sailors. BTW: During the cyclone "Gabrielle" which hit the area two days after I left it, the swell was up to 11m).

#3 The ferry at the Port Fitzroy landing


Usually the ferry would land at Tryphena (Connor's Wharf), but I arrived at a third port, Whangaparapara Harbor, since the access roads to the other two ports had been blocked by recent landslides - caused by heavy rainfalls (New Zealand in the summer 2022/2023 has been haunted by extreme rainfall).

#4 The ferry at Port Fitzroy, ready to depart


There is just one paved (or as it is called in NZ: sealed) road that connects Port Fitzroy in the North with Tryphena in the South of the Island.

#5 Road near Port Fitzroy


The following images are more less ordered from North to South

#6 Harataonga Bay



#7 Awana Bay



#8 Awana Bay



#9 Pinnacles Seat (the mountain peak in the image is Mt. Hobson, 627m, the highest elevation of the island)



#10 Not open for hiking (private road, no trespassing)



#11 Kaitoke Beach



# 12 Oruawhara Bay - Medlands Beach



#13 Oruawhara Bay - Medlands Beach



#14 Near Tryphena



#15 Puriri Bay



#16 Mulberry Grove Beach clouds



#17 Mulberry Grove Beach sunset



#18 Mulberry Grove Beach sunset



#19 Mulberry Grove Beach - after the sunset


In the next image in the background the Coromandel Peninsula is visible.

#20 Mulberry Grove Beach


Sony ILCE-7RM4A Tamron 28-200mm F/2.8-5.6 Di III RXD except #13 Sony CZ FE 16-35mm F/4.0 ZA

C&C always welcome! Thank you for viewing!

Edited by waldo_posth - 13 March 2023 at 00:00

Thanks for sharing all of these Harald, and I'm pleased you got some great pics. A good day on the Hauraki Gulf is hard to beat.

The Mulberry Grove Beach shots with the sunset and the basalt rocks with Pohutakawa trees are some of my favourites, but all the photos are very good.