Quarantine Island  |  Kamau Taurua                                                                                   

Quarantine Island | Kamau Taurua is a 15-hectare island situated at the midpoint of Otago Harbour, a short water taxi ride from Port Chalmers or Portobello.  The Island served as a quarantine area for shipping arrivals from 1863-1924, and for a time thereafter there was significant ferry traffic.  (Reminders of those times are the rusting remains of the Waikana and the Waireka that ones sees on arrival at the Island).  For several decades starting in 1958, the ecumenical St. Martin Island Community leased the Island.  Quarantine Island is now a recreation reserve, managed by QIKT Community Inc., a volunteer-led organization, in coordination with the Department of Conservation.  The most distinctive structures are the restored Married Quarters and the Chapel; there are also a keeper's house and a lodge.  About two dozen sheep live on the Island.  Ongoing projects include restoration of native bush and upkeep of structures.  As with Dunedin, the weather is very variable, and the Island has drier and wetter areas. The island's position across the centre of the Harbour does have the effect of slowing the circulation of water to and from the far end.
Married Quarters building and the Chapel in the foreground, NZCMS across the Harbour, and the end of the Peninsula and Taiaroa Head in the distance.
The boiler of the Waikana, one of the two ferry remains.  Across the Harbour in the background is the NZCMS.
Harbour Cone | Hereweka.
Up the Harbour towards Dunedin.
Out towards Taiaroa Head and the Harbour mouth.
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