When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in December 1941 it sent a shockwave throughout the Pacific, and as it became clear they intended to take over as much of the region as possible, New Zealand scrambled to build dozens of coastal defense batteries to repel a possible invasion. Harrington Point was a perfect location for one – it’s right at the narrowest point of the Otago Harbour entrance, looking over a channel just a couple of hundred metres across.
From the road at the top of the hill, there’s no sign of any fortifications, which is why so many people have no idea this site exists. But as you follow the track down through the abundant gorse bushes, it doesn’t take long to find the first of the old gun turrets :
There are tracks and paths winding everywhere on the point, and if you take a right-turn from the gun turret shown above you reach the first of the tunnel entrances. It seems so out of place in the peaceful atmosphere of the Peninsular – and for Jane and Amanda, who have never been here before, it’s obviously kind of creepy :
Of course the skull above the entrance doesn’t exactly send a friendly message, but it’s a clue to what lies inside. The deserted structures and blank concrete walls have inspired taggers and graffitti artists to cover the bunkers with their work, which adds an extra layer of atmosphere to the place.
Naturally I forgot to bring a torch, so the only light we have are camera flashes and a cigarette lighter! “No worries” says I although my companions are not so sure. Still, we didn’t drive all this way to not go inside…
The tunnel complex is not huge, really just a “U” shaped loop with two entrances and random little rooms coming off the main corridor. It’s so dark that the only way to take photos is to poke our cameras into doorways and use the flash to light up the walls of the space. This leads to some interesting results, especially in this room which has a flooded floor :
Our camera flashes reveal that almost every wall is covered in weird scribblings and drawings :
But these tunnels are only the beginning of the abandoned fortifications at Harrington Point. We manage to find our way out (much to the relief of everybody I think!) and carry on down the hill. We soon discover another bunch of concrete huts among the gorse, which for some reason are covered in pictures of monsters…
I think these bunkers must have been living quarters for soldiers, since some of them have fireplaces and even windows. Maybe this was the bunkroom for whoever wasn’t manning the guns? :
Some stencil artist has added an appropriate touch to one wall :
After all that exploring and blazing away with our cameras, everyone agreed it was getting dangerously close to wine o’clock. All we needed was the perfect spot to crack the bottle – and that was pretty easy to find. Right down on the water’s edge are three or four gun emplacements that offer the perfect place to either go fishing, scuba diving or sit and admire the view.
Obviously we choose the latter option, although vowed to come back with fishing rods sometime – apparently it’s a great spot to catch tasty blue cod and even salmon at the right time of the year when they’re entering the harbour to spawn. We perched ourselves on the roof of the bunker – a flat concrete platform we’ve named “The Slab”. It was perfect – Jane cracked her vino, Seven found something interesting to investigate and we sat and watched the sun go down. Streams of sea birds flew past in formation, adding to the zen-like atmosphere :
And so the Sunday Drive came to a blissful end…we stumbled back up the hill in the dark, avoiding all of the tunnels, and prepared to head back to the real world. There was time for one last shot from the top of the hill, which pretty much sums up this most excellent adventure :
