A visit to Hauturu (1934)

Isabella Hamilton

I recently found an article written by my grandmother, Isabella Hamilton, (nee Wilson) after a much longed for visit to Hauturu in the summer of 1934 when she and friends spent three weeks on the island. This portion of the article describes a visit to the island’s summit (720 metres) …

“Indian file across the stepping stones of Te Waikohare’s dry creek bed, and so into the bush; my friends and I started one clear fresh morning taking the track to the summit of Little Barrier Island. The track led us steeply up through manuka on to a higher level, then for some distance we swung along easily, enjoying the open bush on the ridge, with occasional glimpses of the sea and deep cool forest gullies on either side; enjoying the birds along the way, as they followed flying low, curious, excitedly cheep-cheeping. The rare stitch bird calling stitch-stitch and the tiny riflemen were very interesting to see in their natural habitat. The rifleman hops along a small twig or creeper, such a quaint little ball of fluff, with a beak very long in proportion to his body. The kaka in his brown and red plumage watched us go by, then flew away with his harsh calls.

Herekohu, the mist mountain or The Thumb, rose sharply above us at many points. We rested beside two great kauris for refreshment and to pay homage to the forest kings, who stand stately, grave and tall. Now the track became steeper with more luxuriant growth of ferns and moisture loving plants, which need the mists and the mountain dews to reach perfection. The beautiful transparent kidney ferns clustered everywhere and masses of filmy ferns on every log. We climbed for some distance, drinking in the beauty of the forest trees hung with creepers, mosses and ferns; when lo! We stood at the entrance to a fairy dell. Spell-bound, we saw branching trees all hung with nature’s most delicate tapestry of mosses and filmy ferns of transparent green. The floor was carpeted with the deepest, softest mossy pile, over which Dame Nature had sprinkled the orange coloured petals of the mistletoe blooms. I sunk on to one of the mossy seats and gazed with unfeigned delight. It was too beautiful for words!

When the Maoris first came to Hauturu they said that it was uninhabited by ordinary mankind, that here live the patupaiarehe, or fairies, on the misty summits of the island. I love to think this so happened, that these dwellers in our primeval forests believed in fairies and imagined them living beings in these beautiful mossy dells among the mists of the mountains.

As we reached Mt Archeria (Mt Hauturu), I could but stand and marvel at the beauty which is lavished upon the earth. The panorama of forest, far spreading waters and islands of the Hauraki Gulf, the precipitous outer range of the Little Barrier in its rugged grandeur from Orau to Bald Rock, and the Southernmost point stood outlined against the deep blue of the sea.”

Lyn Wade
Little Barrier Island Supporters Trust
littlebarrierisland.org.nz