23 November 2024 -New Zealand- Waiheke Island – visit to Stony Batter

It was a gentle night as we were well sheltered in Hooks Bay but we woke to a grey day but hey it cannot be perfect weather all the time and it was not raining. We had not had a fry up for a while and so we had a cooked breakfast which went down well.

We decided we would go ashore and walk some 1-5 miles to Stony Batter. Stony Batter is a historic defence installation at the north-eastern end of Waiheke Island, Auckland, New Zealand. It is sited within a 50-acre (200,000 m2) scenic reserve containing unusual rock formations, associated with an extinct volcano, three significant bush blocks and three concrete gun emplacements with an extensive tunnel system, reputed to be the largest in New Zealand.

Stony Batter was part of a counter-bombardment battery system progressively being installed in the Hauraki Gulf from the 1930s. Composed of various gun batteries, such as at Whangaparaoa, Motutapu Island and at Stony Batter, as well as having observation posts such at Rangitoto Island (command post) and Tiritiri Matangi Island, it was supposed to engage enemy naval forces entering the inner Hauraki gulf.

While approved in 1939, construction was delayed for cost reasons until German raiders were sighted in New Zealand waters during 1940–1941. They laid mines and sunk some NZ ships so action had to be taken. In addition, Japan entered the war in late 1941 and a submarine came with its own aircraft (with folded wings which could be catapulted airborne) and this worried the government. This meant that Stony Batter became a high-priority project. In 1942, the site on Waiheke was chosen, but it took until 1943 before construction began in October 1943. It was initially thought that the battery would take 12 months to complete. Delays were caused by the remote location, which at first had no road access, and also by the fact that the project was kept in strict secrecy, requiring with a large degree of self-sufficiency during the construction period, complete with its own living facilities and machine shops. The new battery was generally referred to only as A2, to conceal its location.

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. The tunnels and chambers were designed based on plans of the Tawa Flat railway tunnels project and are 1.2km long in total. 200 men laboured in secret for two years. The work on the installations, sans guns, was completed behind schedule in 1944. The normal shell for the guns had a range of 24km but with extra explosive it could reach about 34km.

By 1945, the immediate threat of war had subsided. By 1955, all material that could be deteriorated was removed from the site. Construction of the battery was, however, considered a major feat of engineering, carried out under particularly difficult circumstances. As the tides of war turned, only two BL 9.2-inch Mk IX – X naval 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, ironically to the Japanese!!

We took the dinghy to the nearby beach and tied the painter to a tree trunk. We could see a track meandering up the hill and there were rolling hills all around. The hills had a lot of sheep and cattle grazing. It was beautiful scenery and no sign of any habitation. We walked off the beach and proceeded up the track disturbing the odd sheep on the way who moved out of our way. We took pictures looking back at Hook Bay with Stormbird anchored in the centre.

There were lots of birds as well and we felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. We could see the odd sailboat sail past the bay and a number of motorboats we assumed fishing. We continued to climb and the track curved through the countryside until after about 45 minutes we came to some farm buildings and the track continued past and eventually we saw an old concrete building now abandoned. We also saw some concrete square blocks above the ground which we later learnt were air shafts. We eventually came to a track which directed us right for Stony Batter.

We walked down the track and could see concrete bases of what used to be buildings or bases for machinery. We then came to the museum concrete building with a tunnel entrance to its right. They take you on a tour which goes every half an hour. We had just missed one but the man took us in as it had only just started. We were given a torch.

The tunnel was straight with a curved ceiling and led deep inside the hill – see picture of the day. We joined the party and were shown various rooms off the tunnels which included the engine room which housed diesel engines to provide power (with their own special exhaust shafts) and to manoeuvre the guns. The communications room which monitored all enemy activity and the ammunition suite (now an art gallery). The initial tunnels are about 25 meters below the surface but you go down about 90 steps and are then 42 meters below the surface. The guide was very enthusiastic and enjoyed telling us about it.

When we had the tour he showed us an exit which was actually into a little forest at the end of the 1.2km tunnel. We had come out to the surface due to the contours of the hill. We then had to walk back to the entrance up the hill we had gone through in the tunnel. We saw one of the large concrete circular gun housings but the gun was no longer there.

It had been a most interesting visit and a lovely walk to get there. We retraced our steps down the hill and back to the dinghy which was still there thank goodness. We returned to Stormbird and had a light lunch. We then prepared the boat and upped anchor, our intention being to visit the North coast of Waiheke and find another nice, sheltered anchorage.

We motored out the bay towing the dinghy and passing a load of boats anchored off Thumb Point and presumably fishing. As we passed the point we were into the wind and the swell which was not so good for towing the dinghy. We stayed quite close in and after a few miles came to a suitable anchorage off Waitua Point. We did not want to go further due to the dinghy but will leave earlier tomorrow and explore the North coast further.

We had a cup of tea and chilled. Keith made some soup and eventually supper which was confit du canard (duck) with pasta and carrot puree. This was surprisingly good. We chilled and listened to Tahitian Music and tapped our feet away and read.

It is our last day tomorrow before we go into the marina on Monday.

Opportunity Year Two

In year two I will be going from New Zealand in early January 2025 across to Sydney and up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025. I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com