Stony Batter Fort Excursion

A tour of the "bottom end" of Waiheke Island with BAP. Stony Batter is one of an array of gun batteries started in the 1930's, scrapped due to high costs, then finished at start of WWII. The tunnels, dug entirely by hand, service 9.2 inch guns that could lob shells over 30km (well beyond the line of sight--so an extensive series of sighting posts was needed). The guns were never fired during war. The tunnels are extensive. Isaac got a bit nervous as we entered deeper into the tunnels, swapping mommy for daddy as his hiking buddy, but we eventually found our way and surfaced to one of the gun turret sites.

On the walk in to Stony Batter we were entertained by three working dogs moving a flock of sheep. The most senior dog rode on the ATV, but was clearly as focused as the ground dogs. My thoughts of course turned to Fly and Pepper--this place was made for herding dogs.