A $20 night on a private island
Twenty dollars doesn’t buy you much these days. Perhaps smashed avocado, if the cafe isn’t too pricey. You can’t even windowshop in central Auckland for $20 – you need to pull out a small mortgage just to cover the exorbitant parking expenses.
So, $20 for a night on a private island seems like a steal. And it is. Tucked away in the Otago Harbour is a little slice of windswept paradise, with a fascinating history. Welcome to Quarantine Island/Ka¯ mau Taurua.
The island – the largest in the harbour – sits near the centre of the long-extinct Otago Volcano, which was active 10 million years ago.
It’s believed Ma¯ ori arrived on the island, potentially as early as 1300, and several historic middens (places where shells and fish were disposed of) have been discovered on the island.
By 1863, early settlers had built a quarantine station – one of four in New Zealand. If ships arrived with any infectious diseases onboard, for example smallpox, the crew and passengers would be held on the island until they were cleared. More than 40 ships were forced to use the island where around 9000 people were processed, of whom about 70 died.
Before Covid-19, this kind of history would be of passing interest to most Kiwis. Today it’s a fascinating contrast to the five-star hotels we’re currently using as quarantine stations.
During and after World War I, use of the island changed. A hospital was built and soldiers found with sexually transmitted infections – mainly gonorrhoea – were sent there.
After the quarantine and hospital closed, farming and tourism were the cornerstones of the island. Thousands flocked to see 90 dogs bound for Antarctica in 1928, who were resting on the island for a month before their trip south.
Ninety years later, the first thing I notice is a scuttled ferry sitting next to the wharf, the same one that brought people over to see the ice dogs. We are greeted by keeper Meghan Hughes, a fascinating and exuberant app developer, who opted for a very different pace of life with her husband, former Green MP Gareth Hughes.
The couple and their two children are the only people who live on the island, and will make you feel at home before you set off and explore.
We begin by making a quick ascent up to the main accommodation block, St Martin Lodge. This was the original keeper’s house, later transformed into a much larger block with old materials from the New Zealand and South Seas International Exhibition, an enormous world expo that was held in Dunedin. Almost unbelievably, it attracted more than three million people.
The sleeping arrangements are a little like a Department of Conservation (DOC) hut, with bunk beds, a communal kitchen and composting toilet (replacing the one that once ran into the ocean).
When on the island, you have free rein to explore – it’s a great adventure for the kids. There are three walking trails. The first is an ecological tour focusing on the island’s restoration efforts. A second historic walk encompasses 15 sites, including the restored Married Quarters. This is the only two-storey quarantine building left in New Zealand. The walk includes a stop at the island’s
cemetery, containing the graves of 72 people who died in quarantine. There is also a walk focused on World War I features of the island.
Aside from the walks, you can take out kayaks, jump off the jetty and – most importantly – catch up with family and friends. The accommodation sleeps up to 30, and it’s an affordable way to get a large group of family and friends together for a catch-up. You will likely have the island to yourself.
But you don’t need to book the place out to enjoy solitude. The day we arrived there was just one guest on the island; she was nowhere to be seen – perhaps tucked away somewhere reading a book in the sun. There is also a two-hour day trip you can do, or island welcome days (the next is on February 27).
It seems the tables have turned. Once this island was a place to put people, so they wouldn’t escape. Now it’s a place people want to escape to. Here, it’s all about the simple pleasures, and many of us could all use a few more of those.
Brook Sabin and Radha Engling are travelling the length of New Zealand on a Stuff Travel nationwide road trip in a new Hyundai Kona Electric. The vehicle has 449km of real-world range on a single charge, for more information see: hyundai.co.nz/ Kona-electric.