IVCNZ '06 - Travel

Twenty-first International Conference

Image and Vision Computing New Zealand

IVCNZ 2006, November 27-29, 2006, Great Barrier Island

Great Barrier Island can be reached from Auckland by either by sea or air.

By air:

The nearest airport is Okiwi:

Mountain Air will run a 'shuttle' service between Auckland and Okiwi for us on Sunday, November 26 and the evening of Wednesday, November 29 or the morning of Thursday, November 30. For IVCNZ'2006 participants, the cost will be $NZ 154 (inc GST) return. To obtain this fare, you should send an email (gbx.mountainair at xtra.co.nz) or fax (+64 9 256 7026) to Mountain Air. Give them:

Your name
Conference: IVCNZ'2006
Details of how you will arrive in Auckland (eg international flight arriving at 10.20am)
How many people in your group
When you would prefer to fly (if other than as soon as possible after you arrive)
Your preferred return time
Payment details

Mountain Air will arrange flights to meet demand (they use 10-seater aircraft for the 30 minute hop to Great Barrier) and advise you when they have booked you. (This is New Zealand - expect this service to be extremely friendly, but possibly a little casual, Mountain Air will be doing their best to get everyone to the Island on the Sunday, but a small plane has to give way to a 747 when trying to leave or come in to Auckland, so some variation in quoted times should be expected.) Our volunteers on the Island will be shuttling you between Okiwi and Orama as quickly as they can on Sunday, on Wednesday after the conference finishes and again on Thursday morning. Note that airlines cannot fly in to Okiwi after sunset (about 8pm at this time of year), so that the last departure from Auckland will probably be about 7pm. The last return trip from the Island will be about 7:30pm on Wednesday: we suggest you plan to enjoy another night on the island and leave on Thurday (or even later!), so that a 'race' for seats can be avoided!

Great Barrier Airlines also provide a service to Great Barrier Island.

Note that most regular services to Great Barrier land at Claris - from which it will take about 90 minutes to get to Orama! Unless you are planning an island tour with a hire car (highly recommended!), we suggest you take advantage of Mountain Air's service.

By sea:

Sealink (Subritzky)

Note that: Fullers does not run a ferry service to Great Barrier before December.

More travel information can be found here.

We are trying to organize a chartered ferry between Auckland and Orama centre. More soon…

By sail: Iolanthe II will leave Auckland, Saturday, November 25, 10am, for the 10 hour sail to Great Barrier Island. She will return on Thursday, November 30.

Places are available for about a dozen adventurers on both trips. Request a place by email to the conference organizers. Iolanthe is a racing yacht, but is well equipped ( full galley, two heads with showers, etc), so the trip should be a pleasant one. Most of the trip will take us through the (mostly) protected waters of the Hauraki Gulf, but you will need to be prepared for a short stretch of open water just before we reach Great Barrier Island.
Sailing one way and flying or taking the ferry for the other direction is definitely possible.
Cost: free, but a gift of a couple of bottles of good red wine from your nearest vineyard will definitely be appreciated by the master and crew ;-). (We like red wine, but if you have some alternative that you think we should try, then that's fine also! Chocolate and similar addictive food from your local region will be received equally well ;-) ). There will be a small levy to cover the cost of food for the trip - less than $NZ 20: it will take 10 hours! (Hard currency of any type accepted ;-) )
Requirements: Suitable footwear - rubber soles with a reasonable tread pattern (preferably not black) are a necessity (leather soles are slippery and dangerous); old clothes - expect some salt spray; waterproof jacket. Note that we are considering banning any type of formal wear for the conference anyway: nobody expects it on Great Barrier - leave your suit and tie at home.
If arriving from overseas on Saturday morning, you will need to allow an hour to clear customs at Auckland and an hour to get to Westhaven Marina. If this will be tight for you, let us know: we can delay our departure a little, but we'd like to make most of the trip in daylight!
If sailing over, you will need to book in Orama for Saturday night: we expect to arrive about 8pm. If the weather is really bad, we will wait for it to clear. We've allowed a 24-hour 'float' for weather.

Last updated: Fri Aug 17 18:45:27 NZST 2006