 Great Barrier Island (Haratonga Bay) Great Barrier Island is an island in the north of New Zealand, situated 88 km to the north-east of central Auckland in the outer Hauraki Gulf. It is called Aotea in the Maori language, meaning white cloud. Its official name is Great Barrier Island (Aotea Island).
With a maximum length (north-south) of some 35 kilometres, it protects the gulf from the storms of the Pacific Ocean to the east. Entrance to the gulf is via two channels, one on either side of the island. Colville Channel separates the island's southernmost point (Cape Barrier) from the Cape Colville at the northern tip of the Coromandel Peninsula to the south, and Cradock Channel separates the island from the smaller Little Barrier Island to the west.
With an area of 285 square kilometres (110 square miles), Great Barrier is the fourth-largest island in New Zealand, following the South Island, the North Island, and Stewart Island. It has a permanent population of around 1300, primarily in coastal settlements such as Port Fitzroy and Okupu. The largest settlement on Great Barrier is in Tryphena Harbour, at the southern end of the island. The population of the island has increased in recent years, along with house values.
There are 3 primary schools on the island, but no secondary schools, so students either leave the island for schooling on the mainland, or do their studies via the New Zealand Correspondence School.
The remote north of Great Barrier Island was the site of the sinking of the SS Wairarapa on 29 October 1894. This tragedy was one of New Zealand's worst ever shipwrecks, with 135 lives lost.
Although technically part of Auckland City, it shares with some other islands a certain relaxation in some of the rules governing daily activities. For example, every transport service operated solely on Great Barrier Island, the Chatham Islands, or Stewart Island is exempt from section 70C of the Transport Act 1962 (the requirements for drivers to maintain driving-hours logbooks). Drivers subject to section 70B must nevertheless keep record of their driving hours in some form. See New Zealand Gazette 14 August 2003.
Dragon Island is found just off the east coast of Great Barrier Island, between it and Rakitu Island .
External link
Free website with links to information about, and pictures of, Great Barrier Island (http://gbi.aotea.org/)
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