Eastern Chicken hatches delights

By COLIN MOORE

Crest the brow of the Brynderwyn Hills, that psychological separation between the Auckland region and Northland, and one of the more stunning views in the country unfolds.

Below are green swathes of rich farmland, dark forested hills in the far distance and, to the east, the splendid waters of Bream Bay and the northern-most limits of the Hauraki Gulf.

Bream Head, at the northern entrance to Whangarei Harbour, and the long coast of Waipu and Ureiti, seem to frame the water view and a distinctive cluster of high-peaked islands that lie between the coast and the Pacific horizon.

These are the Hen and Chicken Islands or the Marotere group and they tend to have the same psychological impact on cruising boaties as the Brynderwyns have on motorists. Sail past the chicks and you soon leave the gulf for Northland waters.

The easternmost of the Chickens is marked on maps as Coppermine Island after various attempts in the 1890s to mine a copper seam.

But the 73ha island has an earlier English name dating back to the naming of the group by Captain James Cook on November 25, 1769 - the Eastern Chicken.

The 1500m-long island looks like an axe head buried in the ocean floor with its sharp edge sticking up. The body of the island has the narrow waist and bulbous ends of an unshucked peanut.

Eastern Chicken is a flora and fauna reserve in the Hauraki Gulf Maritime Park and you cannot land on it without a permit from the Department of Conservation. You will need a good reason to get one of those, too, because the island is a noted refuge for the tuatara, along with rare birds and plants.

But don't despair. You can safely leave the Eastern Chicken to the birds and bees this Easter because the island's outstanding holiday attraction is what real estate agents might call location, location, location.

The waters around the Eastern Chicken and its sister chicks offer some of the best fishing and diving you'll find on the east coast. The islands rise suddenly out of deep, clear water where dolphins and even whales are common.

The inshore kelp forests are rich in fish life. When the wind blows from the north there are coves on the southern side of the Eastern Chicken to shelter in.

It is just this sort of pristine marine environment that led to the creation of the maritime park in 1967 and the impetus for the creation of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park this year.

One in three Auckland households has a boat of some sort and the gulf, from Bream Head to Cape Colville, is their aquatic playground. In the warm currents that sweep down the east coast from Australia, and relatively sheltered from much of the worst of the Pacific Ocean weather, the gulf and its islands are a place for lazy days.

While no landing is permitted on the nature reserves such as the Eastern Chicken, there is no shortage of other publicly-owned and protected islands in the gulf where visitors are welcome.

Several, such as Great Barrier, Kawau, Rangitoto, Motutapu, and Motuihe, can be reached by regular ferry services. There are Department of Conservation campsites on Motutapu, Motuihe, Great Barrier and Motuora islands, and lodge and bed and breakfast accommodation on Waiheke Island and Great Barrier.

There is no shortage of things to do either, from touring the vineyards of Waiheke Island, and the nature reserve of Tiritiri Matangi to the marine reserve of Goat Island and the rugged isolation of Great Barrier.

The gulf has been the scene of "high drama" this summer. But for the next three years at least, it can settle back to the role it is better noted for - the playground for a maritime city and its environs.

EASTERN CHICKEN


Getting around: E-mail Fullers at enquiries@fullers.akl.co.nz for details. Fullers can also supply accommodation information.

Great Barrier Airlines has three flights daily, ph 0800 900 600. Mountain Air has up to four flights daily, ph 0800 222 123. For visitor's information, ph (09) 429 0033.

Fullers has sailings to Tiritiri Matangi on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays.

Fullers also offers a tour of Waiheke Island vineyards. Contact Waiheke Island visitor information centre, ph (09) 372 9999.

To dive at the Eastern Chicken and other Gulf islands contact Divercity Charters, ph (09) 444 7698, fax (09) 444 6947. The company has trips to various gulf islands throughout Easter. The cost for an all-day trip to the Hen and Chickens, including two dive tanks, is $80 a person.

You can view fish from a glass bottom boat at the Goat Island Marine Reserve, ph (09) 422 633. For details on Kawau Island visit www.kawaukat.co.nz. There are several cruise and yacht charter companies, including bare boat charters, and fishing charters. Sea kayaking firms also take trips to the gulf. Contact Tourism Auckland, ph (09) 307 7999.

What's on: The Montana Waiheke Island of Jazz festival from April 20 to 25.