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The word castaway conjures up visions of shipwrecked survivors trapped on desert islands, miles from civilisation, struggling to stay alive. In the world of reality television, however, matters aren't quite so straightforward.
The 12 people chosen to star in the new series of Castaway 2007, a British reality television show, will be living on a beach but that's where the similarity to actual castaways ends.
Filming for the show starts at the end of February on Great Barrier Island, around 90km from Auckland (a 35-minute plane trip or two-hour ferry ride), but the British contestants will not be far from the comforts of home.
The magic of television will be necessary as the "castaways" will actually be staying in Harataonga Bay - just a 30-minute drive from a store, a chemist, a cafe, a sports club, a golf club and an airfield.
The bay is home to a Department of Conservation campground with, admittedly, cold showers and long-drop toilets.
The road and campground will be kept open for the public throughout filming, which means it is possible that the odd tourist or school group could stumble across the production, or locals could go along to watch.
DOC community relations officer Alison Turner said the department had wanted the campground left open. It can accommodate up to 80 people, but demand largely drops away towards the end of January and it was expected to be quiet during filming. However, she said, the start of the school term sometimes brought school trips, and there could be "three or four family groups staying around that time".
Izzy Fordham, a Community Board representative, lives two kilometres from Harataonga beach and describes the bay as "semi-isolated".
"If it was really isolated, you wouldn't be able to drive a car down."
A farmer who grazes his stock around the campground has moved the animals away from the area in preparation. "You can't possibly have a cow mooing in the background when you're a castaway," laughed Fordham.
She said supplies had been brought in over the past few weeks, including containers and building materials. Replica pieces of an old wrecked boat have also been transported to the bay.
The first Castaway series, made in 2000, documented 36 British men, women and children living on the remote Scottish island Taransay for one year. In the televised "social experiment", the group had to become self-sufficient, and attempt to function as a community.
Castaway 2007 has a "new shape and new twists" according to its website, although it is not known what changes have been made to the format of the show aside from a shorter running time of three months.
With up to 120 people coming as crew for the production, Fordham expected the island would get a "good cash injection", and said much of the local accommodation was booked up.
Turner said DOC had worked closely with the BBC to ensure that conservation values were upheld in the area while filming took place.
However, some locals are unhappy with a letter sent by Jeremy Galvin, location manager for programme maker Lion TV. It advised people of alternative campgrounds to use due to disruption that might be experienced during filming, and discouraged people from visiting the bay.
Joyce Gibson, a Great Barrier Island resident for 20 years, called the letter "arrogant", and said "nobody should tell a New Zealander they can't go to a beach".
Gibson said she was worried about the impact on the environment, and strongly felt that the production should have been carried out on private land. "Our parks shouldn't be used for this. It's public land, that's what gets me."
The BBC did not want to comment, and wants participants to know as little as possible about the series. Spokeswoman Kate Adam said the "remoteness of the experience from the participants' every day lives is as much, if not more, the reason behind the series as the geographical remoteness/distance".
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
