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From issue: Summer 2003

Island Baches Not Deserted

by Susan Yoffe

For years, it seemed the little baches on Auckland's Rangitoto Island were doomed. Now, a change of heart and a financial rescue package mean at least some of the dwellings will live to tll their story.

Rangitoto. Image: Ralph Talmont, PhotoNewZealand.com

One by one, the baches on Rangitoto, the Hauraki Gulf 's iconic volcano, began to disappear in the 1970s.Where once stood a bach, built from largely recycled materials in the '20s and '30s, an empty gap was the only reminder of the families who once holidayed there. As the leases ran out and the last family member died, the baches fell into disrepair, often vandalised and eventually demolished.

Dotted along the island's coastline were remnants of the 140 baches that clung to the volcanic rock - a set of concrete steps leading to nowhere, a chimney, demolition rubble, an old sink, a discarded fridge the only nostalgic signs of families who swam, boated, fished, picnicked and socialised together.

One of the surviving baches viewed from the Islington Bay wharf. Picture: Julia Thorne

Today, just 34 baches are left and it is those that the Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust, formed in 1996, has fought to retain. Now, financial help, in the form of AMP sponsorship of $60,000 a year for the next three years, means some of the baches will be restored and made available for public use.

For the trust, the sponsorship adds strength to its conviction that the remaining Rangitoto bach settlements are irreplaceable artefacts of New Zealand's architectural and social history.

The trust will administer some baches for use by families and small groups. Others may be used and maintained by groups such as canoe clubs, bird watchers and artists under the auspices of the trust.

Bach owners cooling offin "Pelham's Pool", Islington Bay (circa 1920s). Picture: Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust

Little concession will be made to mod cons. A weekend on "Rangi" will be a historical holiday experience. Except for gasbottle lighting and cooking, and composting toilets, the baches will be equipped very much as they were in 1930s - tank water, no bathroom and no electricity.

These days, Rangitoto is largely deserted apart from day trippers. But, 70 years ago, a close-knit holiday community grew up and grew old together. Co-operation, friendship and fellowship are themes that run throughout the stories of bach families. Men helped each other with the heavy work, building slipways and boatsheds, excavating a hole for the long-drop or levelling an outdoor area.

Gardiner's Gap near the causeway which links Rangitoto to Motutapu. Picture: Julia Thorne

Fishing was a favourite pastime - extra fish were passed to the neighbours, and most people had smoke houses. Cooking on open fires or coal ranges and hand-washing clothes made housework almost full time and often arduous. Cold tank water came from a single tap and food was kept fresh, and away from ants, in safes hung in trees or in cans of water.

Children explored the island, collected firewood, swam and learned seamanship and to look after themselves and each other. Evenings were spent around the Tilly lamp playing cards or having a singsong. Dances at the Islington Bay Hall were popular (the original old piano is still there today) and a very active bowls club used the same floor. Tennis tournaments were keenly contested in the summer.Christmas and New Year celebrations involved the whole community - Father Christmas arriving by boat, fancy dress parades, fishing competitions and carols played by a resident band.

In 1854, its Maori owners sold Rangitoto to the Crown. Maori were living on neighbouring Motutapu when Rangitoto erupted more than 600 years ago, making it Auckland's youngest volcano. Rangitoto is considered wahi tapu (a sacred place) and was used as a base for fishing and as a lookout over the Hauraki Gulf.

The Hickey bach, Rangitoto Picture: Rangitoto Historic Conservation Trust

The island came under the jurisdiction of the Devonport Domain Board in 1890. The board was charged with providing public amenities such as the wharf and paths, but, finding it had no income to finance the responsibility, decided to let bach sites.

After WWI, three areas for bach sites were established, at Beacon End, Rangitoto Wharf and Islington Bay, and a caretaker was appointed. He opened a shop and tearooms, which became very popular with weekend ferry trippers. Baches continued to be built over the next 20 years.

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, inmates from Mt Eden Prison built community facilities such as roads, the swimming pool at Rangitoto Wharf and the hall at Islington Bay. In the 1930s, the Ministry of Lands and other authorities became concerned that private leases on public land were illegal.

However, the bach owners made credible representation, saying that their leases were legal, and argued that, throughout the years, they had assisted with caretaking the island and contributing to the facilities, such as St John's Ambulance huts, that benefited visitors as well as themselves.

From 1937, no new leases were allowed and existing leases were to expire on the death of the current lessee.As a result, many of the baches were demolished during the 1970s and 1980s under the policy of the Hauraki Domain Board.

The administration of the island passed to the Department of Conservation in 1990 and no baches have been demolished since then. The remaining baches reflect a community that survived on a Kiwi do-it-yourself attitude, a love of the outdoors and making do.

So close to Auckland and easily accessible by public transport, the baches were ideal for family holidays. They remain as they were in the 1930s, using roof water, without electricity and depending on the backyard toilet.

Historical research by the Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust has resulted in an extensive archive of oral histories from bach owners, historical photographs and documents that record the life of the community.

With the support of the Department of Conservation, Historic Places Trust and Auckland City Council, the historical significance of the bach communities has been established. Furthermore, the importance of retaining and interpreting the baches and community facilities as part of New Zealand's social history has been recognised.

For more information on the Rangitoto baches and the Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust visit the website (www.rangitoto.org).

Susan Yoffe wrote her M.A. thesis in social anthropology on the holiday communities on Rangitoto. Since the formation of the Rangitoto Island Historic Conservation Trust, she has further researched the histories of baches and the island, collecting an extensive archive.