Motukaraka: An island treasure  By Stephanie Chamerlin  Only
accessible by high tide, Motukaraka promises magic and adventure
to Stephanie Chamberlin  A sandbar provides access to a former
pa site off Beachlands. Photo / Stephanie Chamberlin  On the day
our planned trip to Motukaraka rolls around, the men bail - one
with a cold and the other to work. It's left to me and my sister
to take our collective brood to what we've promised is a kind of
treasure island - albeit one you can walk to.  Known to locals
as Flat Island, Motukaraka sits just off the coast of Beachlands
on the Pohutukawa Coast. The island has a tragic past: once a
fortified pa and home to several hundred people, it was invaded
and its community massacred in the early 19th century.
Uninhabited since then, it's been briefly farmed by an early
settler, was ravaged by fire in 1965 and is now a serene
reserve.  Walking becomes possible at low tide - the island is
connected to the mainland by a submerged sandbar that hooks
around from Pine Harbour M