Islands of the Gulf - Little Barrier

Robert Hunter Blair and his wife came here in 1910, and he died in September of that year. Mrs Blair was quite alone. She made a grave and then waited for help to come, in answer to the fires she lit along the shore. 

– Presenter Shirley Maddock on an early curator of Little Barrier Island, late in this episode

Little Barrier's only direct link with the outside world is the radio telephone. This is another skill an island ranger needs — to be a qualified radio operator.

– Presenter Shirley Maddock

...they don't realise just how much there is to do just existing on an island, and just looking after yourself and living takes up an awful lot of time.

– Little Barrier caretaker Ann Blanshard is asked if she gets lonely

We were rather fed up with the general run of commercial life and so on...

– Little Barrier caretaker Rodger Blanshard on why he and his family moved to Little Barrier Island

This is the big point about Little Barrier — it is a complete and utter sanctuary. If a tree falls down across one of the actual tracks, then if it impedes progress we cut that through. But otherwise we leave everything exactly as it is.

– Little Barrier caretaker Rodger Blanshard on regenerating the island

The lighthouse on Tiritiri Matangi is the beacon at the entrance to the Rangitoto Channel. Its tower thrusts a bleached finger from the cluster of houses where the three lighthouse families live.

– Presenter Shirley Maddock waxes lyrical about Tiritiri Matangi Island

. . . A youthful zest, which may strike some as ingenuous, is the most apparent quality, but the delight we felt in discovering for ourselves those islands on the horizon is strongly conveyed. That eventually we were able to share our pleasure with so many New Zealanders was our best reward.

– Shirley Maddock looks back on the series, in her foreword to the 1983 edition of her book Islands of the Gulf

Mum found way too much material to squeeze into five half-hour programmes she also wrote a book to accompany the series and thanks to her vibrant, lively text, coupled with Don Whyte's lush photographs, Islands of the Gulf was an instant bestseller.

– Maddock's daughter Elizabeth Easther on the series' tie-in book, in her foreword to the 2017 edition of Islands of the Gulf

Fred Ladd and other pilots knew the Gulf very well – locations, suitable landing places, they were familiar with the remote personalities: families, farmers, foresters, rangers, fishermen and hermits and got to know about local events and a touch of history connected with many of the islands they serviced.

– Ric Carlyon on Pilot Fred Ladd's important role on the series, Dispatches website, 2020