Islands of the Gulf

Islands of the Gulf was New Zealand’s first local documentary series — written, presented and made by Aotearoa’s first female producer, Shirley Maddock. Originally intended as a one-off programme about the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, it ran to five half-hour episodes examining life in the gulf, in an era when local faces were still a screen novelty. Aviation legend Fred Ladd ferried Maddock and cameraman Don Whyte around. Maddock’s tie-in book has been extensively reprinted. In 1983, she revisited the area for a TVNZ documentary. In 2018 Maddock's daughter Elizabeth Easther returned to the Hauraki Gulf for a new series.