Chatham Islands, New Zealand

TUESDAYS WITH BARRY

For something a little different, yet vaguely familiar, my Dad and I decided to take a short trip to New Zealand's eastern outpost, the remote Chatham Islands with a population of barely 600. The Chatham's have officially been part of New Zealand since 1842 and include the country's eastern most point, the beautifully named Forty-Fours, but if you ask any Chatham Islander they'll tell you this isn't New Zealand. And to make the point, this is the only place on earth to observe Chatham Standard Time Zone -  confusingly forty-five minutes ahead of New Zealand.

Flights to the islands on Air Chathams (in a Convair 580) depart from Auckland, Christchurch or in our case Wellington. The scarcity of flights mean passengers and freight share the main cabin. The first 15 or so rows of our flight were taken up with all sorts of household goods covered in blue plastic wrap. After a brief delay the flight took off and about an hour and a half later we landed at remote Tuuta airport next to a large lagoon far away from any sign of civilization. There's no public transport on the island so it's essential to have accommodation booked in advance. Dad arranged a rental car at the airport - an old Honda CRV with the keys permanently stuck in the ignition. We found the proprietor of the Hotel Chathams, who also doubled as the rental car agent, and followed her, via a quick stop to take in the views or Petre Bay, to the Chatham Rise annex, a few hundred meters from the main hotel in the capital city, Waitangi (population 200).

Petre Bay looking towards Waitangi

Hotel Chatham is pretty much the only game in town. The only pub, the only restaurant, the only hotel, the Air Chathams air hostess doubles as the bartender and the fish and chips is a bargain at $25 a plate.  After dinner we took a drive along Port Hutt Road to the tiny village of Port Hutt, stopping at the Basalt Columns at Ohira Bay along the way. The hexagonal columns are similar to the Giants Causeway in Ireland but much smaller (so I'm told since I haven't been to Giants Causeway). The funny thing about getting there was that the bay is on private land so we had to get permission, and a key to unlock the gate, to access the farmland the columns are next to. The directions went something like; drive through the gate, turn right at the picnic table, avoid the sheep, over the rise and down to the park bench. We arrived not  long before sunset and had the place to ourselves. The only two tourists at Ohira Bay that evening.

Hotel Chathams, our Honda CRV and Dad

The Basalt Columns at Ohira Bay

The next day we joined a tour group and left the rental car in Waitangi for the morning and headed to the south eastern coast along the Waitangi Tuku Road past beautiful coastline and stunning farmland. On the way back we encountered a New Zealand traffic jam as a farmer herded a flock of sheep along the main road between two paddocks. Back with our own car in the afternoon we followed the tour group to the Ocean Mail Scenic Reserve, the town of Kaingaroa, the seal colony at Port Munning (again only accessible only through private farm land), and the remains of the Sunderland flying boat in an old farm shed (on the same farm).

The loading ramp at Kaingaroa

Dad and I at Port Munning

Crayfish pots - Kaingaroa

We left the tour group late in the afternoon and drove to the south eastern coast in search of the best views of Pitt Island. It was another case of following hilarious directions; turn off the main road at the fish factory, through the gates, follow the fence line, past the cattle, over the ridge to the cliffs of Manukau Point. The cliffs are amazing and the views stunning and once again we were the only people for miles around. It was incredibly serine and the great weather meant we could easily make out Pitt island in the distance of the south coast.

The southern coast of Manukau Point, near Owenga

The last stop of the day was the statue of the Chathams most famous son. Tommy Solomon was the last full-blooded indigenous Chatham Islander, or Moriori. He was however, not the last Moriori. His own descendants and the descendants of other Moriori live on today. He died in 1993 but his statue, erected in 1985, sits on the property of his descendants, on the eastern corner of the island near Owenga, facing eastward and staring out across the Pacific. As with most places we visited during our two days, we were the only two people there, surrounded by Tommy's spirit.

Dad talking to the Tommy Solomon statue

Everyone we met said two days was not enough time and they were right. The trip was far too short but it was brilliant to be somewhere familiar, yet so different all at the same time. As the locals will tell you, this is not New Zealand.