Hello my Charmings,
“It’s better to shoot for the Stars and miss, than to aim at a pile of sh*t and hit.”
— Anonymous
Great Barrier Island is place on its own. If you want a tranquil place to spend your time, this is the right place for you. You can be totally off the grid here and just be one with nature. A close encounter of the wild is one of the perks being one with nature (a.k.a mosquitoes). But hey, the views of this place is breathtaking so all mosquito bites are worth it.
Me and my husband flew to GBI (Great Barrier Island) via Barrier air. The flight fare is cheaper in my opinion if you factor in the cost of travel time which is 30 minutes from Auckland. Flight fare starts at $89 one way. There is an alternative cheaper route which is via Sealink Ferry which starts at $75 one way with 5 hours travel time.
We arrived at GBI and were greeted by the owner of Aotea Lodge (where we stayed) with our car rental — they offer not just lodging but can arrange car rental as well. We chose to stay at a cheaper lodge they have as we intended to roam around the entire day and see what GBI has to offer. Had our lunch at My Fat Puku (a cafe close to the airport) — I can say that by far the best brownie I’ve ever tasted. Mainly locals and visitors come here to have their coffee fix, Brunch fix or any kind of food related fix as they serve good food.
FUN FACT: Puku is a maori word meaning belly.
We drove around and were greeted with this amazing view…
Went on our first hike in GBI to Mt.Hobson, so far this is our view from our walk…
It’s a brutal walk as it is mostly uphill and lots of stairs. After 40 minutes of walking we gave up and head back. Not one of my glorious moments but I’m done with the stairs and so is my husband.
We went driving around on our second day. I researched the places I wanted to see and cafes/restaurants that are known in the area but no specific daily itinerary.
We ended up here…
By far, in terms of beaches, GBI has the most amazing white sand beaches I’ve been to. The tranquility and serenity of the place is just on another level.
We went on our second hike…
By the name itself, Windy Lookout Canyon, it is very Windy. So if you’re planning to go with your hair down on this hike, beware or else you’ll end up like Hagrid from Harry Potter 🙂
We passed by Port Fitzroy on our way back. Bought some refreshments and went to the toilet before our drive back.
TIP 1: anything in GBI is more expensive than normal, so if you can carry your food essentials (drinking water for us) it is better. But if budget is a non-issue for this trip then it’s all good.
TIP 2: you need to carry cash with you if you intend to buy anything — in case they don’t accept cards — as this island doesn’t have an ATM (as far as I know, we didn’t see one). Most but not all accept cards like Cafe/restaurants and pre booked your accommodation/tour experiences so you don’t have to worry about payments later.
The drive back is so relaxing. Though it’s quite a snake like cliff road it’s still relaxing for me as you get to pass amazing views and seldom find a photo opportunity of a cow wanting its photo taken.
The highlight for this trip is our Stargazing experience with Good Heavens. We booked it in advance just to be sure that they have availability on the days we are in GBI. At first, we thought it is pricey for the experience. We paid $120 per person. But the experience was all worth it. The Star guide (lets call her that as she really knows what she is doing) bought some thick blankets for us, moon chairs to sit on, hot cocoa with homemade brownies, the humongous telescope and binoculars for each person. She showed us Saturn which you can actually see Saturn’s ring, the milky way and other star formations. She even told us the history of the Southern Cross (star constellation) which is a New Zealand national symbol .
FUN FACT: Great Barrier Island is the first Island in the world (shared with Stewart Island) to be certified by International Dark Sky Sanctuary and the third Darkest Sanctuary in the world.
TIP 3: bring a camera that you can manually adjust the settings as it is very likely that your cell phone camera won’t work.
On our last day, we head out to Kaitoke Hot Springs. It’s a 30 minute walk from the main road. There are signs on the road and we used google maps to find this places, so no need to worry on getting lost.
TIP 4: pre download your offline map as there are areas with no signal at all.
It’s like we rented out the entire place as no one is there and for the most part, you just have to pick the best spot.
And our last stop is the Tryphena Beach… more photo opportunities.
We headed down to Currach Irish Pub for our last dinner on the island. Its a traditional Irish pub with lots of character. Mainly locals come here to gather and dine. We had some amazing chowder, Fish and Chips paired with irish beer, worth every penny.
CHArmed Life 