The Great Barrier Island is located about one hundred kilometers from Auckland itself and is part of the Auckland region and governed by Auckland Council. Although it is larger, it is very sparsely populated. It is home to a mere 950 people. And all this population is concentrated in small coastal villages. The largest settlement on the island is the village of Trifena, which is located in the southwesternmost part of the island. But life on the island has its own peculiarities and differs from the life on the “mainland” or for example on the island of Wijhek, where the infrastructure is well established. The standard of living here is relatively low compared to the national average, there is no electricity, and the locals get electricity from generators, solar panels and windmills. There are no electric lights on the streets of the villages. There are three elementary school on the island, but no secondary schools and so children either study on the “mainland” or are educated in correspondence schools. There are no banks, ATMs or supermarkets. But there are stores where you can buy everything you need, fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, bread and gasoline, which is also sold directly in the stores. But the island has police, fire department (fires are considered the biggest danger here), medical center, cab service, nature protection department.
There are few roads on the island and they are all winding, not paved and without a center line. If you drive on the road, you just have to stick to the left side and that’s it. But for us it is not surprising, as we have a lot of roads without center markings. There is no public transportation here, but you can rent a car. There are two airfields on the island where planes from Auckland and Tauranga land. The Great Barrier Island is only a 35-minute flight from Auckland. But if you get to the island by water, it will be much longer than four and a half hours. To the Great Barrier Island several times a week there are high-speed ferries, both passenger and cargo.
The climate on the island is subtropical, the same as in Auckland, but more windy, and the flora is unique and diverse. There are rare plants and many birds. Rare species of ducks, brown teal, black petrel, and the beautiful kaka parrot live in the natural environment. But there are no introduced pests that affect the local ecosystem, there are no possums, weasels, ferrets, hedgehogs, deer, wild goats. Therefore, the flora of the island remains untouched and pristine. And those forests that were destroyed by people for decades have been restored.
And it is also said that strange phenomena happen to visitors to the island, although it doesn’t happen to everyone. They find themselves in some strange and incomprehensible state. There is a continuous feeling of peace, well-being, and everything around seems so beautiful. Suddenly you forget about your problems, about your past life, you don’t want to be interested in the press, the Internet, television or anything else. You want to wave to every car you see and stop and chat with every person, just like that, about nothing.