Kerry Howe: Gulf islands no longer welcoming

COMMENT

For generations Aucklanders have readily been able to visit the so-called recreation islands of the inner Hauraki Gulf. This is now difficult to do.

There has evidently been a change in policy. Is there now a Department of Conservation policy - or conspiracy - to keep day visitors away?

Motuihe is probably the most beautiful of the recreational islands. With its two stunning main beaches, park-like grounds and Norfolk pines, it has been the scene of wonderful picnics since the 19th century. But not any more. There are no more day-tripper ferries.

So a friend and I visited the island in our sea-kayaks early this month. We found a mess. The place is like an abandoned wilderness.

The picnic areas are rough with uncut grass. The water tap near the beach at the foot of the hill has been cut off. There is a tap in the toilet block, but it is deep inside a tiny hand-basin, which makes it impossible to fill a drink bottle. The male toilets stink because, it seems, the urinals are not flushed.

What used to be the camping ground - and presumably still is, for there is nothing to say camping is, or is not, permitted - is covered in thistles.

We pitched our tents amid waist-high weeds. (I did think briefly about the suggestion that the Department of Conservation might not be good at weed control on its new Molesworth Station).

No one came to check us out. There is no Department of Conservation camp honesty box. So, of course, we left our $5 camp fees under a stone.

The Department of Conservation signage on Motuihe is poor, consisting of little more than an aerial photograph of the island. There is nothing useful mentioned about the island's colourful history, including its time as a naval base, or even about its fauna and flora.

There is a chalked sign telling people to remove their rubbish and inviting volunteers to help look after the island.

As for the Department of Conservation's Motuihe website, it must be several years out of date.

I would have been so embarrassed if I had managed to take an overseas visitor there.

Motuihe, it seems, is not an isolated case.

Last year my wife and I took our flash new mountain bikes to the Devonport wharf. We were excited at the prospect of a gentle ride around the extensive formed roads on Rangitoto and Motutapu - no traffic, no dogs, just peaceful island terrain.

To our dismay, the ferry operator, Fullers, refused to take our bikes, claiming they were under instructions from the Department of Conservation forbidding bike-riding on Rangitoto and Motutapu.

I wrote to the Minister of Conservation, which replied with a nice letter confirming the policy and stating that some previous cyclists had ridden where they should not have, and scared the cattle.

So the wonderful island roads remain unused except for the ubiquitous Department of Conservation trucks that forever seem to be speeding over them - scaring the cattle.

There is a marvellous department camp ground at Home Bay on Motutapu. Its acres of grass are nicely cut, the water taps work, and polite department staff come and collect your money.

My friend and I sea-kayaked there, too, earlier this month, and camped. But ordinary day trippers cannot get there. The ferry service to Islington Bay no longer operates.

If you want to get to Home Bay now, other than by sea, you have to get off at the Rangitoto Wharf and walk about 8km (one way).

I have noticed Department of Conservation trucks transporting groups of people over the island, to Home Bay and Administration Bay. Is this the department's proper function?

Should it perhaps run a public bus to these places from the Rangitoto wharf, so we can all gain access to wonderful island coastlines and beaches.

The Department of Conservation needs to be asked some hard questions about its access policy for inner-Gulf island day-tripping, and about its care of public places, especially on rundown Motuihe.

* Kerry Howe is a professor of history at Massey University, Albany.