As far as I can tell they have done little to promote the trips, they are claiming they are due a fee just because they own the island called Motu Kokako.
Presumably they also are claiming the hole, although how any group can claim an empty space could only be done in this country.
The trust is now blockading the area and handing out leaflets to tourists putting their position to stop visitors from making the trips.
The way I see it no one can lay claim to views. Whether it be a landscape, seascape or holescape.
Views are in the public domain and - just as having blue skies, white clouds and clear water - are provided by the Creator for everyone to look at and enjoy.
This situation reminds me of an ancient Turkish tale involving the clever character Nasruddin Hodja.
Hodja tells us of a beggar who only had a piece of bread with which to sustain himself.
He wanted to add to its flavour and snuck into a shop where he held the bread over a pot of stew trying to have his food absorb some of the flavour wafting up from the dish.
The owner of the establishment saw the beggar, grabbed him and shouted: "Stop thief you are stealing my food."
Protesting his innocence the beggar said: "I didn't take your food I only tried to make the best of its smell."
Ignoring the answer the businessman dragged him away before the local magistrate, who at the time was Hodja, demanding the man pay for the smell of the food.
Hodja heard the evidence and agreed the beggar should pay for the wonderful aroma he had enjoyed. "But, I have no money," he protested, "I cannot pay for a smell."
Hodja told the man: "Never mind, I will pay for the aroma."
With that he took out two small coins and facing the merchant he rubbed them together making a slight scraping sound.
"There," he told the businessman, "for the smell of your food, you can hear the sound of my two coins ... ".
I love that tale and wonder what Hodja would think of the Hole in the Rock situation.
AS a lad I was a huge fan of James Bigglesworth who, of course, is better known to the world as Biggles.
His flying adventures had me turning pages morning, noon and night and dreaming of being up in the open cockpit of a Sopwith Camel taking on the evil Hun over the battlefields of Belgium and France in World War I.
The reality of being a fighter pilot in World War I was far from romantic. There were no parachutes so, if you were shot out of the sky, the only way to avoid burning to death was either shooting yourself or throwing yourself out of the plane hoping for a quicker death on the ground below.
Those airmen who lasted long enough to become aces were lionised by their countrymen, but few made it as the average life expectancy of a new pilot was about 20 minutes.
My peers are probably the last generation to have been thrilled with Biggles' adventures, but all ages can enjoy the beauty and excitement of World War I fighter planes on the weekend of January 25 and 26 at the Classics of the Sky Tauranga airshow.
Four World War I aircraft will be flying at the show in mock air battles. They are a Fokker Dreidecker (better known as the Fokker triplane, favoured by Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron), its nemesis the British Sopwith Camel, the amazing Fokker DVII - regarded as being the best plane of the war - and an Allied Nieuport.
These aircraft will roll back the years - almost a century now - to when they ruled the skies.
They will be joined by more modern aircraft including a Strikemaster, an A37 Dragonfly, as well as World War II aircraft (P40 Kittyhawk, Spitfire, Mustang and a Corsair).
It's chocks away at 10am on the Saturday practice day and Sunday, January 26, and it promises to be an absolutely wizard show. I'll see you there!
For more details go to www.classicflyersnz.com.
Richard Moore is an award-winning Western Bay journalist and photographer.
richard@richardmoore.com
