Stony Batter historic reserve

Well this was going to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. I felt like gadget man, GoPro and camera’s ready to roll. But …
Fortunately talking to our hosts at the lodge we were staying at informed us that the health & safety police had closed off the tunnels. I was very disappointed, but we decided to rock up there anywhere and might try a bit of exploring. We had high hopes when saw quite a few cars parked. After a good walk up to the site, our hosts were correct the tunnels are closed to the public until about 2016. We did not spot any signage advising of their closure until we were about to walk through the gate to the complex.
Still we had some great views on the way up and down. There is not much at the site, we saw several families with disappointed children with torches in hand.
Not a bad place for a picnic, but there are other more accessible locations for one.

If you’re over on Waiheke, Stony Batter is an awesome day trip. It’s on the eastern end of the island so you’ll need a car to get there (about 40mins from the wharf the ferry arrives into). Stony Batter is a series of underground tunnels and rooms from World War II; if you are claustrophobic this is not for you! It’s very very dark down there and the tunnels go pretty deep, so for everyone else it’s awesome fun. A torch is ABSOLUTLEY ESSENTIAL, with out a torch don’t even bother entering, it’s dangerous. If you’ve forgotten yours you can hire them there for $ 5. This is where my highlight comes in; the lady you pay has a giant pet sheep. It follows her everywhere (I can’t remember the name, but something like Dolly perhaps?). Anyway it’s pretty bizarre to see this big woolly creature following her around like a dog; that alone names the trip worth it.