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It wasn't easy getting to our bach, but the effort was worthwhile once we got there.
Our familiy first started going to Rangi during the Second World War, when it was necessary to obtain a special permit to land on the island from the Defence Department.
As a child I remember the hardships my parents, Alex and Olive Boswell, endured when they travelled with their four children from our home in Otahuhu to Bach 2 at the Beacon End of Rangitoto. My parents had no car so it meant carrying all our supplies and sometimes the youngest child. First we had to walk more than a kilometre to the main road where we caught the bus to the City. We then walked from the bus terminal to the launch steps, at the bottom of Queens Street, to catch the Rangi boat. Once we arrived at Rangi Wharf, there was the 5 km walk to the bach. It wasn’t too long before some of the bach owners at the Beacon End had bikes to help them travel to their bach. Later on, we were very fortunate when Reg Noble, operator of the wharf store and Post Office, used one of his vehicles to transport passengers and luggage to the Beacon End for a small fee.
My Uncle, Wallace (Barney) Boswell, also had a 1920s Dodge that he kept in a makeshift garage on the site of the old prison camp near the wharf, which was used to transport the family. Unfortunately vandals smashed it up with old pieces of metal that were lying around the camp.
Reg and his niece Vi Leech provided a lifeline for the bach families at the Beacon End, when we stayed on the island for extended periods during the school holidays. As well as the taxi service, two or three times a week they also delivered provisions that the families had ordered, the latest newspaper(s) and any mail.
Today, some of us still walk around to the bach from the boat, but we are often lucky enough to get help with our bags. At times we have been able to go by private boat and land in the little bay in front of the bach. This is still my favourite way of getting to the bach.
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