Waiheke Island

Our next stop after conquering the Coromandel was Waiheke Island. This island is just offshore from Auckland and offered many protected bays from every wind direction. The island has several well known wineries and we hiked among them and stopped every so often for a taste test ?or two. Many of the vineyards were also growing olives and making olive oil. Our first anchor stop was Hooks Bay on the Northeastern tip where we found Stony Batter.

Stony Batter was of part of a counter-bombardment battery system progressively being installed in the Hauraki Gulf from the 1930s. Composed of various gun batteries, as well as having observation posts, it was supposed to engage enemy naval forces entering the inner gulf. Next to the gun pits there are 1000 feet of tunnels. These connected the gunpits with each other and with their ammunition stores, a plotting room, an engine room providing electricity, as well as with storerooms and barracks.

 

The tunnels and underground chambers were quarried by hand, with formwork for the walls and ceilings, then filled with concrete (reinforcing steel was not used due to shortages). Aggregate was obtained from the prominent rocky outcrops, giving Stony Batter its name.

 

While approved in 1939, construction was delayed for cost reasons until German raiders were sighted in New Zealand waters during 1940-1941, as well as the war entry of Japan in late 1941, suddenly turned it into a high-priority project. As the tides of war turned, only two guns were installed, one in 1944, and one in 1948. The third gun was cancelled before shipment. Never fired except for testing and training purposes, the guns were dismantled and sold for scrap in 1961.

 

The guns installed at Stony Batter were 9.2-inch (the shells they fired were 9.2" in diameter). Each gun weighed 110-120 tons and its turret had 2-inch steel armour-plating. The barrels weighed 28 tons; they were 442.75" long, and 34.75" in diameter at the breach end. The guns were mounted in concrete pits 40 feet in diameter. A 9.2-inch gun could fire two shells a minute once the crew were trained and if its electricity and hydraulics were working. They could be operated manually; then the maximum rate of fire was a shell every two and half minutes.

We had read about the tunnels and came with strong flashlights to explore on our own. Since we hiked up from the boat, we entered the tunnels near the guns and exited where they were collecting entry fees and passing out flash lights. Oh well, more money for the college fund!

We next moved around to Putiki bay and hiked to Ostend and then took a bus to Onetangi for lunch. We ate at The Beach Front Café and had one of the better meals we've had here so far.

From Waiheke we could see the Auckland skyline, so we voted to check that out next.

Tom