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4 Coasting: Great Barrier Island

For this issue of Coasting we took a boat trip to Great Barrier to sample a bit of island life and check out a ‘skate track’ at a secret location in the bush. Along for the the journey was Ian ‘Eithy’ Davidson, Kristian Philipp and Jason Parkes. Our tour guides and hosts for our stay were Mark, Kahti and Indy.

Photography by David Read

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Eithy, frontside boneless.

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Mark, frontside flip.

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Trekking in. If it wasn’t for Jason’s handy Hilux the trip to Mark’s ‘skate track’ would have been long and arduous. Seeing Mark’s Starlet is not fit for four-wheeling he normally makes the 30-minute plus trip by foot, but with a chilly bin of cold brews and packs stacked full of food and sleeping provisions, the walk would have broken us. After gaining access to the private road with the help of a few Coronas, we halved our trip, but still had a steep walk ahead of us.

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Welcome to Broken Thumb. Legend has it that everybody who has ever lived on this piece of ridgeline has, at one time, had a broken thumb.

Nobody mentioned anything about broken backs though – next time I’m packing lighter. However, we were rewarded

in the fact that it was probably the first time that anyone had ever enjoyed an ice cold beer there.

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Mark Neighbours.

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Eithy and the Sea Bugs. After Mark and Jason spent an hour amongst the swell and stingrays they came back with a couple of fine Sea Bugs. That was dinner sorted.

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Mark, judo air on the micro-mega. Far from civilisation Mark has crafted himself a semi-self sufficient lifestyle in the bush. A nearby stream provides fresh water for all the home comforts including a vege garden, drinking water, and with the help of a pot belly stove with a wet back, hot showers. The remote location meant heading out for a skate was tricky at best though. After Mark walked in sheet after sheet of plywood he was able to slowly piece together his micro-mega ramp. A flat bank and speed bump lead into a quarter pipe that’s finished off nicely with rasta coloured pool coping. This is what you call paradise.

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Mark, frontside air.

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Kristian, sugarcane.

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Eithy, invert.

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