ISLES OF CHARM

Otago Witness, Issue 3673, 5 August 1924, Page 69

ISLES OF CHARM

By

Allan Wallace.

(For the Witness.) (See Illustrated Pages.) The romantic isolation of uncultivated and uninhabited isles, rich in material for speculation upon their past history, lies nearer to our doors than a great part of the New Zealand- public realises. Not far outside the Whangarei Heads in such islands as the Hen and Chickens, and the Poor Knights, you may roam for days along the sea-shore, or through the bush, observing nature in such mystic repose as prevailed before man, black or white, reached this land. Here the notes of thousands of bellbirds maintain unceasing and inimitable hymns of praise; the saddle-back still calls and is heeded by h is mate, and you may sit at night and watch the morepork swoop down upon the venturesome native rat as he is silhouetted for a moment upon some huge boulder’s top. It seems to me that J. M. Ballantyne must have had similar isles to these in mind when he wrote his “Coral Island.” Upon December 22, we leave the Town wharf of Whangarei, and are conveyed, we and our belongings, to One Tree Point. There are six of us, and our baggage appears enough for twice our strength. However, as a great part of it is composed of provender, we are wisely forethoughtful, for do adverse winds and seas assail us we may be forced to remain for many days, prisoners upon the Poor Knights. Bearing this in mind too, is responsible for the presence of a huge box, containing a La Gloria gramophone. Remaining overnight at One Tree Point, we are greeted by a smiling dawn, and having transferred 1 our effects to a Keeler powered fishing boat, we proceed upon our voyage over sparkling seas, bathed in the most gorgeous sunshine, beneath blue and cloudless skies. We make our way past the delightful small and large bays along the lower reaches of the Whangarei Harbour, skirting too that romantic crag the imposing and beetling “Manaia,” which towers magnificently above us. Clumps of bush are daubed red bv blazes of pohutakawa. In places, too, the bush thickly clothes steep hillside slopes, from crest to water’s edge. The “Hen” stands almost dead ahead, and beyond the “Little Barrier” is descried more indistinctly. Outside now upon the open ocean, the coast on our left is long and comparatively low lying with stretches of bright sand. The first isle of our group which we approach is the "Sugar Loaf,” distant about four miles from the more southerly of the two main islands. This great rock rises sheer 250 ft, white and dazzling, from the green depths 50 fathoms beneath. It is the home of innumerable sea-birds, especially ganets, who are liberally regaled with fish from the surrounding waters. While we are quietly circumnavigating, a hawk approaches and the feathered population forsake their fastness in myriads, to beat off the invader. From ous position, looking- straight above us, we see a wonderful moving picture screened upon the azure arc as these birds wheel, rise and fall in their hostile manoeuvres. At intervals as we proceed the sea is whipped to a foam by schools of fish, above which birds hover in large numbers. Great varieties of sea-fowl. too. are to he seen at times, swiftly flying past, leisurely flitting above the ocean’s surface, or darting down from great heights with tremendous velocity into the water. We sail round wonderful rocks, memorials to bygone ages. Presently we pass through a great tunnel 50ft wide. A titanic bridge snans 100 ft above our heads, and beneath the water’s surface the sea floor lies some From the nerVading gloom, hut kindly coolness of this cavern, one looks out to see islets and the surrounding ocean bathed in the translucent light. Along the coast’s edge we observe fish of various hues in the pellucid waters. Idling thus along these charming shores, we finally anchor in a hay off the more southern of (he two main islands, and take our baggage to the land. Our

parent ship immediately puts to sea again, leaving us in complete isolation. We straightway commence pitching our tents, and very soon are ship-shape. The wonderful sea-pools along the coast are a source of inexhaustible delight and interest. Some accessible only at low tides, and containing 10 to 15ft of the clearest water, are fringed by beautiful marine flora, and flored with white stones. These last form a wonderful background upon which the piscine inhabitants disport themselves to the delighted entertainment of the observer. The largest of all the pools is attractive especially to the bather, being 100 ft long. Perpendicular rock rises 10ft above the surface at "the water’s edge and at high tide there is a depth of 12ft. Progress overland is most difficult on account of the density of the undergrowth, but where one is able to attain a crest, the outlook beggars description. The bush sanctuaries contain a great variety of bird-life, most conspicuously the green parakeet, red crested. This island is of peculiar hstorc nterest by reason of the abundant evidence of native occupation, duing the time prior to the white man’s advent. There are still to be seen the totara palings which were used for palisading the pah, also walls of rock evidently erected for defensive purposes. One of our party is greatly elated at finding the carved handle of a mere and the blade of an axe. Thus our foui- delightful days flash by, and one is suddenly recalled to earth by “Ship, ahoy!” and we see our navigator hailing us from his boat, laden with 2000ibs of hapuka, caught from the surrounding waters. Reluctantly we tear ourselves from these engaging shores, but homeward bound, find time to visit a most unique cave, which opens, and domes inside, mosque-like 20ft overhead, while the water carpets it approximately 120 ft in onp direction and 40ft in the other. The ceiling is coloured by nature, mainly red and green, with more delicate shades here and there, while the voice seems to reverberate into perpetuity.