Islands of the Gulf - Rakino and Kawau

Living on an island requires a degree of self-sufficiency the mainland does not. Life may be more tranquil but it's certainly less idle.

– Presenter Shirley Maddock on island life, early in this episode

From the mainland, The Noises look like a line of boulders tossed down in the ocean. They’re called The Noises from the caves, the weather and the sea. The waves and the wind howl and boom through them in a storm. No one lives on The Noises but watchful colonies of pied shag. They perch on the rocks and the cliffs, and on the salt-caked branches of pōhutukawa.

– Presenter Shirley Maddock describes The Noises islands, off Rakino Island

Shorts, bare feet and sunburned noses are in order on the wide lawns of the Mansion House, where in Sir George Grey's time, peacocks strutted and spread their tails. The guests for his lavish house parties pulled into a jetty looking much as it does now.

– Presenter Shirley Maddock recalls a bygone time at Kawau Island's Mansion House Bay

When Sir George bought Kawau in 1862, he added extensively to the original structure  . . .  His island home was never a solitary one. He filled it with visitors from all over the world, just as he filled his garden with all manner of creatures and exotic plants and trees.

– Presenter Shirley Maddock on Sir George Grey's time on Kawau Island

The park itself was in existence when I first began trekking about Hauraki, but its domains are much more extensive now . . . You meet some Gulf residents who are a little suspicious of the Park's influence becoming too all embracing, fearful lest they and their surroundings come to resemble exhibits in a museum.

– Shirley Maddock on Kawau Island Mansion House Park, in her foreword to the 1983 edition of her book Islands of the Gulf