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Te Ahumata Peak Great Barrier Island, four female trampers

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Events

Nature Nurture | Women’s Wellbeing Retreat
July 25 – July 28
Aotea Hot Night – The Barrier Chilli Challenge
July 27 @ 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm

See all events…

Maps

Visitor Guide

tune in to Aotea FM

greatbarrierislandofficial

Have you booked your summer trip to the Barrier ye

Have you booked your summer trip to the Barrier yet?
🌊 ☀️ 🥾
#aotea #greatbarrierisland #purenewzealand #tourismnz #visitnewzealand #visitakl

Sub tropical winter scenes on the Barrier 🍃 ☀

Sub tropical winter scenes on the Barrier 🍃 ☀️ 🌊 💫

#aotea #greatbarrierisland #visitakl #visitnewzealand #purenewzealand #travelnz @visitauckland @purenewzealand

Winter wanders on Aotea.

Winter wanders on Aotea.

Aotea summer dreaming #Aotea #greatbarrierisland

Aotea summer dreaming

#Aotea #greatbarrierisland

Aotea Growers & Makers Market first Saturday of ev

Aotea Growers & Makers Market first Saturday of every month on the island #aotea #greatbarrierisland

Blue skies on Aotea! It's a bright and busy day

Blue skies on Aotea!

It's a bright and busy day here on the island as the sun and blue skies have broken through the clouds.

The Gray Homestead Museum basking in the sun at the @aotea_art_gallery

#aotea #greatbarrierisland #nzart #nzcraft #nzhistory #grayhomesteadmuseum

It's here! Our latest visitor information guide fo

It's here! Our latest visitor information guide for 2022/23.

You will find hard copies available at the airport on check in, in Auckland and arrival at Claris, on the Sealink ferry and likely in your accommodation.

Alternatively, you can view or download online now.

Check out the link in our bio

With special thanks to @barrierair
who sponsored bringing the print copies to the island and @kristinamonts for contributing the front cover image.

#aotea #greatbarrierisland
#visitorguide #nzmustdo
#purenz #destinationnz #nztrip

Island stories: Putting on a show There’s plent

Island stories: Putting on a show

There’s plenty of days when Aotea shines, but a couple stand out as real performances.

Roger O’Shannessy and Robyn Grice live in a round-roomed, wood-lined house in the bush with a view to the sea. Kaka flock overhead and it’s not unusual to see a Bryde’s whale, orcas or dolphins in the bay below.

Roger has organised Aotea Live, an annual showcase of musical talent and a fundraiser for Aotea FM, for 10 years. He bowed out on Labour Weekend after another memorable night.

“Open mic nights have for a long time provided local musicians with an opportunity to perform and jam but Aotea Live was conceived with the intention of putting on an actual concert,” he explains when I visit their hideaway.

Link in bio to read the whole story.

Written by Tim Higham, supported by Destination Great Barrier Island

Photo: Aotea Live organiser Roger O’Shannessy and Robyn Grice in their round kitchen

#aotea #greatbarrierisland #islandstories #communityinitiatives #aoteafm #communitynz #nzcommunity #nzmusic #nzartist #nzonair #sustainabletravel #sustainabletourism #notjustadestination

This Saturday 10th December - Growers and makers m

This Saturday 10th December - Growers and makers market at the community art gallery in Claris.

Vegetables, fruit, coffee, flowers, plants, botanicals, craft, workshops and more.

Starts at 10am. See you there

Brought to you by AoteaOra Trust.

#greatbarrierisland #aotea #support local #madeinnz #nzmade #community destination #saturdaymarket #farmersmarket

'Great Barrier viewed from afar may be austere, ev

'Great Barrier viewed from afar may be austere, even forbidding, but those who make its closer acquaintance find its endued with a particular charm and loveliness'

Taken from Great Barrier: Isle of Enchantment - A H & A W Reed.

Photo credit: @carolcomerphotography

#aotea #greatbarrierisland #purenewzealand #travelnz #travelblogger #traveladdict #lonelyplanet #lonelyplanetnewzealand

Have you read this month's Island Story yet? A He

Have you read this month's Island Story yet?

A Healing Island...

Visitors drawn to the Te Ao Haurongo display at community market days are tapping into deep island spirit.

“It is because of bloodlines,” says Char Ngawaka, “we go back 900 years. Our veins are made of the salt that surrounds this island.”

She is one of three women drawn together to share their knowledge and healing craft with others.

Phoebe Ngawaka grew up - like many whānau on the island – as a Latter-Day Saint, with prayer and reverence for life. “At high school I embraced my Māori side” and she has since gone on to complete a Diploma in Rongoā at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.

The pair – “two of 37 first cousins, that we know of” – met Fleur Winger at Orama Oasis “when we were little” and Fleur was working as hospitality manager at the Christian community in the north of the island.

Several years ago, when Fleur was suffering acute pain in her knee, they were able to provide relief by wrapping it in kawakawa leaves, a form of Māori medicine or rongoā learned from their aunties.

“The girls taught me the spirituality of plants,” Fleur says, leading to the fusion of Western herbalism and Māori rongoā now embodied in their work together.

Fleur has a Certificate in Herbal Medicine, and it is at her home above Tryphena that “cooking” happens, the distillation of essential oils and hydrosols from plants. Everything is done according to tikanga, such as careful separation from the preparation of food.

Phoebe leads on the harvesting side, working with te maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, to pick in season and with the full moon. She says she tunes in to the ways plants like kawakawa, kumarahou, mānuka and tī kōuka (cabbage tree) signal they are ready for picking and works with takutaku (incantation), karakia and waiata...

Link in bio to read on

Written by Tim Higham for Destination Great Barrier Island

#greatbarrierisland #aotea #rongoa #nznative #aotearoa #visitakl #healingenergy
@teaohaurongo

Island Stories: The Wingman Returns It takes a lo

Island Stories: The Wingman Returns

It takes a lot of blood sweat and tears to create Aotea’s big day out.

The island’s Wingman Festival returns Saturday January 28 next year and trustee Renee Freeland says the local organisers have doubled down following the success of the first festival staged at the Claris Sports Club in 2021.

Twice the number of concert goers are expected there – 2000 – and an even higher calibre of acts has meant a bigger lighting and sound rig is required. Two 6m trucks are booked on the ferry to bring it out “along with more of everything.”

The Aotea Wingman Festival Trust and their supporters are confident the island will cope.

Festival trustee Annabel Marshall has a professional background in event organisation and says, “there’s been huge support among businesses, locals who volunteer time, and the island regulars that bring family and friends out over summer.” She suggests visitors consider combining the festival with other island activities to spread the demand for plane and ferry tickets, and factor in the potential for weather disruptions.

The festival programme announced recently – includes Summer Thieves, a five-piece Dunedin band which opened for L.A.B. at their Australasian shows, Latinaotearoa, blending Brazilian and Venezuelan musical influences and dancers, and the roots reggae eight-person line-up Lost Tribe Aotearoa...

Link in bio to read on

@thewingmanfestival @visitauckland #greatbarrierisland #aotea #thewingmanfestival #nzfestival #bigdayout #island festival #communityfundraiser

Rain and shine on Aotea Great Barrier Island No m

Rain and shine on Aotea Great Barrier Island

No matter what the season or weather, the island puts on a mystical show.

This week, we've had weather perfect for morning hikes followed by afternoons snuggled up reading a book by the wood burner.

It's funny how we are often conditioned to think the only weather that is good is beaming sunshine.

Here on Aotea we love the rain for replenishing our water tanks and topping up the water table, plus giving us the perfect excuse to head to one of the cafes for a hot drink or cosy meal at the Currach by the fire.

#aotea #greatbarrierisland #travelnz #visitAKL #nzspring #Springweather #rainbowsofinstagram #purenz #newzealandadventure

Micky was hitchhiking from the airport. She told

Micky was hitchhiking from the airport.

She told me she hoped to pick up work in bar or restaurant and find a place to live.

I dropped her near the church at Medlands (Ōruawharo) and wished her luck.
Aotea has always attracted adventurous young people.

But slotting into catering rosters can take a bit of juggling by café owners and publicans. Finding rooms, a bit of asking around.

Eating out on the island mirrors this dynamic and rewards a flexible, pick and mix approach.

The island’s social clubs, golf club, bistro, pub, Thai restaurant, pizza ovens, cafés and takeaways are not open every day and all hours, particularly over winter, so Destination Great Barrier Island produces a handy guide - www.greatbarrier.co.nz/eat-drink/ to help visitors find their dinner...

With many holiday homes in regular use by owners or available for short term stays, rental housing – with the attendant challenges of often quirky off-grid power, water and waste systems – can also be hard to find.

There’s talk of places for tiny homes to ease the housing shortage, something community-minded locals, council and mana whenua are working on.

The island has always been a place that suits serendipity and grace.

Read more:
https://www.greatbarrier.co.nz/living-by-grace/

#greatbarrierisland #aotea #aotearoa #workingholidayNZ #purenewzealand #travelNZ #serendipity

Photos: Mickaela Sadlier om Oruawharo (Medlands).
New Zealand Hermit crab in a slipper shell - by Shaun Lee

Island Stories: A time and a place for rāhui 'Vi

Island Stories: A time and a place for rāhui

'Visitors to the West Coast bays of Aotea may have noticed they have company.

Carved figures or pou appeared shortly after the discovery of exotic Caulerpa brachypus seaweed in island waters as symbols of the concern and care of Ngāti Rehua Ngātiwai ki Aotea.

Resident mana whenua initiated the rāhui tapū to coincide with the Ministry of Primary Industries’ Controlled Area Notice designed to minimise the spread of the invasive tropical seaweed.

Rodney Ngawaka was part of a small party that blessed the pou before sunrise earlier this year. He says rāhui tapū have traditionally been used by Māori to mark territory, close an area after a drowning, or allow the mauri of an area to replenish.

The pou signify the long occupation and kaitiaki by mana whenua of these places and the stories embedded in them, at Rangitāwhiri, Ō-Kupe-Mai-Tawhiti, Whangaparapara and Te Whanga-o-Rarohara.

The presence of Caulerpa means that anchoring without a permit, fishing and taking of seafood from Rangitāwhiri/ Tryphena Harbour, Ō-Kupe-Mai-Tawhiti/ Okupu or Blind Bay and Whangaparapara is currently prohibited...'

Link in bio to read more

Written by Tim Higham with support from Destination Great Barrier Island.

Photo credit: Ben Mason

#aotea #greatbarrierisland #ngatirehua #Ngatiwai #rahui #MinistryOfFisheries #nzfishing #fishingnz #pou #sustainablefishing #sustainabletourism #regenarativetourism #senseofplace

Discover Aotea Community Arts and Heritage village

Discover Aotea Community Arts and Heritage village in Claris - @aotea_art_gallery

'Raranga Toi' Exhibition 15-30th May.

An amazing showcase of many of the island's local weavers and plaiters.

If you aren't on the island, keep an eye out for updates on items for sale on our stories

#greatbarrierisland
#aotea #kete #creativespaces #creativedestinations #localart #nzart #supportlocal #visitakl #haurakigulf #purenz #travelnz #kete #maoriart #

Island Stories: Artistic Expression 'Port Chalmer

Island Stories: Artistic Expression

'Port Chalmers-based, Ireland-born writer Majella Cullinane spent nine weeks in a one-room log cabin on Aotea as part of a writing sabbatical funded through an Auckland Museum Research Grant.

The cabin belongs to her partner’s family, who acquired land on the island and have always wanted to retain its unique character. The logs – tanalised posts – were barged in and assembled in a grove of nīkau and pūriri well above the beach.

Its solar panels aren’t enough to power a laptop, just phones and torches, but Majella has always written her first drafts longhand anyway, including two poetry collections and the WWI-set novel The Life of De’Ath, longlisted for the 2019 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards. She’s currently revising her third poetry collection.

While Cyclone Dovi whipped around the cabin in February, she sat next to one of its small windows filling her notebook with island-inspired characters and plotlines.

The flailing trees seemed to reflect the distant world – the pandemic, the threat of war, spiralling inflation. And informed stories that became infused with the local – a scratch from mingimingi on the walk to take their 11-year-old son to Mulberry Grove School, a clifftop view of the Coromandel from a tangle of kikuyu grass, stingrays in the shallows during daily swims.

Majella – “a townie from Limerick” – says the moveable toilet stool, the mosquitos and the outdoor plumbing put her well outside her comfort zone...'

Link in bio to read on.

Photos:
The Lookout. Palmers - Tony Ogle.
Sandy Callister
Majella Cullinane

Written by Tim Higham, supported by Destination Great Barrier Island

#greatbarrierisland #aotea #ArtistsInResidence #aucklandart #creativeholidays #islandsabbatical #tonyogle #majellacullinane #artistsofnz #nzcreatives #inspiringlandscapes

A WINTER OF DISCONTENT TALK SERIES ON AOTEA MARK

A WINTER OF DISCONTENT TALK SERIES ON AOTEA

MARK YOUR CALENDARS & BUY THOSE TICKETS.

We may be a small island, but our community and visitors are full of big ideas 💡

Join NZ Herald's financial Agony Aunt Mary Holm by the fire at the @currachirishpub_gbi on 22 May for her take on Money & Happiness 💰 😊

Then the useful psychologist Sarb Johal on 19 June.... 🧠 🧘‍♀️

Link for tickets & programme in bio

#greatbarrierisland #aotea #smallislandbigideas #visitaAKL #haurakigulf #festivalforthemind #talkseries #financecolumn #big ideas #haurakigulf

Wondering how to travel to Aotea May to September?

Wondering how to travel to Aotea May to September?

Sealink have just released their winter timetable for Auckland to Aotea Great Barrier Island, for sailings from the 2 May.

Link in bio

#sealinknz #greatbarrierisland #aotea #visitAKL #visitauckland #haurakigulf #waihekeisland #cityofsails #ferrytravel #purenz #nzmustdo #nztravel #sustainabletravel #visitnz #islandlife

Island Stories: Passion Projects 'I’m sitting

Island Stories: Passion Projects

'I’m sitting on the veranda of what was once the villa homestead on a 400-acre farm running down to the beach at Mulberry Grove, near where the ferry arrives.

Derek Bell bought it on a sub-divided acre in 2005, then a few years later put in an offer on the farm block behind it.

Eighty five percent was in regenerating bush and under a QE2 covenant with the bottom 40 acres in pine forest, which he viewed as “a blot on the landscape.”

Up for a challenge, Derek employed forestry consultants to fell the trees, truck them to the wharf then barge them back to Auckland – the first timber to be exported from the island since kauri logging days.

But the price he got for the logs barely met the cost of transportation and the slash took three winters of permitted fires to burn.

His first native trees cost 19c each to get from Tutukaka to Auckland then $1.60 each from Auckland to the island, so Derek set up a native plant nursery in an old four-berth milking shed; a joint effort with the Windy Hill Rosalie Bay Catchment Trust, which controls predators to create a wildlife sanctuary across 18 neighbouring properties.

He’s planted several thousand trees from the nursery, which now also supplies other island restoration efforts...'

Link in bio to read on about Derek, Alan Phelps and Murray Staples ecological restoration projects and why they live here.

With thanks to writer Tim Higham

#greatbarrierisland #aotea #ecologicalrestoration #predatorfree #replantingprojects #NZnatives #passionprojects #localstories #predatorfreenz #doc #nznativebird #visitakl #purenewzealand

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Aotea Advocate – Free Community News

Native Plant Nursery Changes Hands

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

A 1980’s Snapper Snapshot

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

Bye Bye Bushy Asparagus

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

Food Resilience and the Garden in July

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

A ‘Thank you’ from Helen McLorinan

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

AFSG Turnaround

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

New Life for Orama

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

Defending Aotea from Caulerpa Spread: Hui With the New Local Response Team

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

The Missaars Make Moves

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

From Plastics to Posts & Planters

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

Is the Bar Restorable?

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

CAN Extended Until 30 September

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

A Starry Winter Wonderland

Aotea Advocate | Issue 10

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