As lockdown brought travel to and around the island to a halt I reached out to several island professional photographers, asking them if they would share a favourite image and about how Aotea has challenged and inspired their work. Hillary … Read More
The next festival on Aotea’s calendar – Small Island Big Ideas in September – promises to cater for hearts and minds. Its theme is Uncertainty – an odd theme you might think – but accepting that change is constant is … Read More
Words Tim Higham, Images Saskia Koerner Aotea’s population is growing. The number of people listing the island as their primary place of residence for health care purposes has crept up to over 1150. The last official census in 2018 had … Read More
A lot of visitors say Great Barrier Island is like stepping back in time. All homes and accommodation places are reliant on their own power, waste and water systems. Recent participants in the Off the Grid Festival had the chance … Read More
Joss Bellerby loves the apple and chocolate scents of her Stonewall Store in Tryphena when she opens up in the morning. Gerald Endt needs to be in touch with the day – temperature, soil condition and moisture – if his … Read More
Iconic homestead – Waterfront and accessible location – Outdoor heated bathtubs – Open Fire – Pool Table – Close to the pub and cafe – Kayak & Paddleboards… Plus we’re a locally owned and hosted accommodation (Yep, equipped with … Read More
Aotea and every one of the 50-odd islands and rock stacks that surround it has a name. Some are well-known, like Rakitū and Kaikoura. Others known to just a few, markers to a past stretching back a thousand years. Rodney Ngawaka … Read More
Imagine a journey across 12,000 kilometres of wave-strewn ocean, with few or no reference points, just memory. Memory of a peaty burrow, beneath tree roots, atop the domed summit of a peak known as Hirakimata. Memory of late summer days … Read More
Disconnect from the world on Great Barrier Island Aotea/Great Barrier Island is a place to disconnect from the outside world and restore your wellbeing through nature. If you’re looking to escape the daily rat race, reconnect with a loved one, family, … Read More
SO, you’ve booked this amazing holiday to get away and relax…and it’s raining. Out here on our island, we embrace the rain, in fact we rely on it. Being off-grid means we catch our own water, whether through rain … Read More
