Castaway on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand
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Harataonga Bay is on the east coast of Great Barrier Island and offers a beautiful white sandy beach, great for swimming, fishing and diving.

There is a Department of Conservation campsite at Harataonga  300m from the beach with mature trees for shade.  The campsite is 2.5km off the main road and has cold showers and toilets. There is also a campsite at Awana which is a popular surf beach. The campsite is 400 metres from the beach, there is no shade, cold showers and toilets.  Map

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On February 28th 2007 the first of the Castaways arrived, flying from Auckland to Okiwi on Great Barrier Island.  A convoy of cars coming from the south of the island met the plane and the blindfolded Castaways were transported individually over the hill to Port FitzRoy. There they were greeted with a cacophony of moos and bellows from several loaded cattle trucks ready for departure on the barge tied up at the wharf.

Consequently, unable to use the wharf to receive their passengers the waiting launch was anchored out in the harbour. A hive of activity from the contingent of helpers ensued as plans to get these passengers onto the launch were amended.

One by one they were led from the cars to be outfitted with a lifejacket, manoeuvred into a dinghy and ferried out to the launch. For some this was a quite a daunting experience especially as it took a long time before they were all safely aboard.

The cattle were still mooing and bellowing and the barge was still tied up to the wharf as these ‘victims’ left the harbour for their trip to Harataonga.












All photographs are copyright © 2002 GBINZ

      

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