Islands of the Gulf (1) First Episode

Television (Full Length Episode) – 2018

Fifty-four years after TV pioneer Shirley Maddock presented her series Islands of the Gulf, her daughter Elisabeth Easther visits the same Hauraki island group to see how much life has changed. First up is Waiheke, by far the most popular island, and with its booming hospitality sector and vineyards, a bona fide Auckland suburb. The smaller, sparser Rakino Island attracts those seeking a simpler life. Biggest in land size and attitude, Great Barrier retains its independent spirit. Local midwife Adele Robertson remembers how its absorption into Auckland Council in 1989 meant more rules and less innovation.

...I've got my own boat so it doesn't worry me, but people get used to it you know. You take a whole lot of rations over there: long life milk, a whole lot of tinned foods. The restrictions on the island, I actually enjoy that, because it keeps a lot of the riff-raff off the island. People that really want it, they'll go out there and spend the weekend.
– Rakino Island local (and real estate agent) Stephen Wong on how isolation can have an upside