Goat Island / Te Hāwere-a-Maki is a small island north of Auckland City, northwest of Leigh on Cape Rodney. The island is close to the coast and sits within the Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve. The adjacent coast, with a small beach and rocky coastline, is also a public reserve. The marine reserve was first established in NZ in 1975. The time and proximity to the coast make it very popular as a snorkelling destination, especially after calm weather.
The marine reserve covers five km of coastline and extends 800 m offshore. It has led to increased populations of crayfish and snapper and acts as a breeding and nursery area for many species. It is now one of more than 40 marine reserves around the country.
The reserve resulted from research programmes undertaken by the University of Auckland in the 1960s and early 1970s. Today, the university operates the nearby Leigh Marine Laboratory. There is also a memorial to the Comsic Noise Expedition of 1948, where two astronomers, John Boulton and Gordon Stanley, set up a radio receiver to record the radio waves of the cosmos, the first such effort in the world. The radio waves were from the Crab Nebula, about 1.000 light years away.
The island also holds spiritual significance for the local Māori tribe, Ngāti Manuhiri. Their ancestral waka, Moekākara, is believed to have landed nearby. Curiously, the first Europeans were from Nova Scotia in Canada and arrived around the 1850s. The surrounding forests were cleared for farming and occupied without any title being granted. In an interesting historical twist, these settlers subsequently found their land and improvements being auctioned by the government!
Goat Island is a 1.5-hour drive north of Auckland. Head to Leigh on the south side of Cape Rodney, then take Pakiri Road for 1.6 km, then Goat Island Road to the large parking area. It is a short downhill walk to the coast and beach. You can also walk up the road past the research centre, east of the coast access, to connect with the Goat Island Bay Walkway. At sunset, take a short side trip to a lookout point on Cape Rodney Road.
