Islands of the Gulf (1) First Episode

...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

During filming, we would wake up in the morning and everything felt kind. I thought how mum would have really appreciated that, because it was a real muck-in kind of way she made television; there were no trailers, no hair and makeup, there were no pretensions, and I think we managed to create a similar sort of feeling.

– Presenter Elisabeth Easther on following the steps of her mother, broadcaster Shirley Maddock, The NZ Herald, 24 February 2018

So this one here's Marine Park Avenue. We call this part here "Remuera on Rakino". Woody Bay's 'Takapuna on Rakino'.

– Rakino Island dweller Stephen Wong gives Elisabeth Easter a guided tour

Small communities just lead to feuding, and some of the feuds here have gone back for generations: you know, "my family's seventh generation and your family's only sixth generation", all this sort of stuff. But it's really minor stuff and they actually still really support each other, and they're there when it counts...

– Great Barrier Police Officer Kylie Bright on minor feuds on Great Barrier Island, late in this episode

The lifestyles I suppose are so different you could say they clash, but there's no open warfare or anything like that but... all the money is having an effect. I've only lived on this island for four years and in that time house prices have doubled, and it's now quite an expensive island to live on. So that's a big problem I guess. And how many more people can the island take, that's the ongoing debate here.

– Waiheke Island resident Bruce Ansley reflects on Waiheke's rapid reinvention into a desirable place to buy property

Whole island, all sort of people you know. White, blue, yellow, rich, poor, crazy, normal . . . Everyone comes here.

– Waiheke barber Andre Gonzalez describes his clientele, early in this episode

The road to Catherine Bay's an experience, not just a ride. It's like careening down a dried up mountain creek bed.

– Shirley Maddock describes Great Barrier Island roads, in the 1964 version of the show

...it's a tricky island. The ferry service doesn't go very often and there's no shops at all. and there' s no

– Presenter Elisabeth Easther on the way to Rakino Island