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There'll be hundreds, if not thousands, of Kiwis who'll have spent more time on a Pacific Island than they have on Great Barrier Island - New Zealand's forgotten island just 28 minutes as the plane flies from Auckland airport.
It's hard to miss - at 285sq km, it's New Zealand's fourth biggest land mass, but somehow the Barrier's managed to slip below the radar. There are a few boaties and island aficionados who've managed to keep this place a secret - but it seems they won't be able to have the island as their own private playground for very much longer. The most visible indication that islanders are expecting a boom is the extraordinary number of real estate agents' hoardings.
The signs looks like a new cash crop. From Fitzroy in the northeast to Tryphena in the south, every second home has a for-sale sign nailed to its fence, and if the price is right, you can pick up one of the many businesses for sale on the Barrier, too.
In part, the frenzied sell-off has been driven by speculation that a British telly show being filmed on the island will make the Barrier the next big thing, but it's also an inevitable result of the nationwide lust for coastal property. Ever since a couple of waterfront baches on Medlands Beach, or Millionaire's Mile, as its known locally, went for seven figures, residents figured they might as well have a punt too.
Understandably, not all the locals are thrilled at the prospect of Great Barrier going glam. When Waiheke became a haven for media mavens and cashed-up creatives, the hippies there stubbed out their roaches, pulled up their cash crops and replanted themselves on the Barrier. The thought of their island home becoming just another Ponsonby-sur-Mer fills them with horror.
The hippies should just chill, man. It's unlikely that Great Barrier will ever become as glossy as Waiheke. Oh, it's known good times - whaling and Kauri logging meant boom times for the island in the late 1800s, but since then, the Barrier has been left pretty much to its own devices.
They're a hardy lot, these islanders. They have to be. While most of us have six degrees of separation between ourselves and the facilities we take for granted, people living on the Barrier have to take responsibility for their own electricity generation, sewage disposal and water supply.
When storms strike, Great Barrier can be cut off from supplies for days at a time, and the islanders are expected to cope.
They do - and it makes them a resilient bunch with a host of great stories that they're happy to share.
It's not an easy life, though, and it's not a place for princesses, which is why the unique nature of the island should remain. Rustic charm and getting away from it all is fine in theory, but when the septic tank is leaking and there isn't enough electricity to generate hot water for a bath, reality bites.
The island's population fluctuates from year to year - presently, it's around 700. The island has three primary schools but no secondary, and as the children of island families reach college age, their parents often cash up and move to the mainland.
It's easy to see why the British television producers of Castaway chose Great Barrier as their latest location for the show. Because it screens on the Beeb, Castaway is described as a "social experiment with a purpose". Further reading reveals that the show involves 12 volunteers who will use their skills to develop the infrastructure of an exotic island - Great Barrier - and be filmed doing so.
Looks, sounds and smells like any other manky reality show to me, but having called in at the beach where Castaway is to be filmed on the way to Fitzroy, I can see why the producers chose it. Harataonga is indeed a taonga - the white sands and crystal blue waters will send the cameramen into raptures, but there are no facilities or utilities and no cellphone coverage.
The poor wee Poms who volunteer for this adventure won't know what's hit them.
As with any project of this sort, the locals are divided as to the wisdom of allowing the television crew on to the island - sure, the outsiders will bring dosh, and lots of it, but no one's allowed near the camp during filming, and the noise and lights from the production will shatter the peace and calm of that part of the island, the very tranquillity for which the Barrier is famous.
Still, there are plenty of other pristine beaches - the extraordinary thing about the island is that there will be times, even in the height of tourist season, where you can have a postcard perfect beach all to yourself.
In part, that's due to the size of the island. It's a big place, with most of the land protected and administered by the Department of Conservation, so there's room for everyone.
It's also because the Barrier is not as accessible as its more glamorous island counterpart, Waiheke, and that puts off a lot of potential tourists.
Ferries take either two-and-a-half or four hours, depending on which one you book, and although its just a short hop by plane and you have a choice of flights every day of the week, I've smoked cigars bigger than the plane I flew in on, and I can understand why some people might baulk at getting into such tiny craft.
But fortune favours the bold, and those who make the journey will be well rewarded.
Great Barrier Island is not for everyone. If you demand mod cons all hours of the day and night, if you cannot live without your cellphone, if your mental health requires planes to run on time, and if you don't want to think about the impact your ablutions might have on the environment, go to Pauanui. Unique is a word that is misused and overused, but in the Barrier's case, it's an apt description. There is nothing else like it.
Leave your Blackberries and your laptops and your pretensions on the mainland, steel yourself for the plane ride and come on over. You might not want to live here, but I guarantee you'll want to come back.
Great Barrier Island top five
1. Glenfern Sanctuary
Former yachtie Tony Bouzaid had the inspiration for this place 10 years ago, and the sanctuary is the result.
It's 60 hectares of privately-owned land overlooking Fitzroy Harbour that's been transformed into a safe haven for endangered species of flora and fauna and is nurtured and protected by Tony and his team, in partnership with the Department of Conservation.
A Unimog will take you up the steep hill from beautiful Fitzroy House to Sunset Rock, and then it's an easy walk around the sanctuary over well-maintained tracks.
A guided walk will set you back a minimum of $50 per person, but consider it a small donation towards the preservation and protection of a unique attraction.
www.glenfern.org.nz.
2. Walking tracks
This island was made for walking.
The best part about the trails on the Barrier is that you can do a 10-minute walk in your togs or head out for overnight camps in your state-of-the-art tramping gear.
Even city kids who've never walked further than the local dairy will be converted to fun family tramps.
Windy Canyon, for instance, is a walk you can do in your shorts and jandals, and yet just 20 minutes from the main road, you are treated to a spectacular view of the island.
The little ghouls will love visiting the graves of the seamen who perished in the wreck of the SS Wairarapa in 1894.
A 30-minute walk along Whangapoua Beach to Tapuwai Point will take you to the gravesite.
See www.greatbarrier.co.nz and click on "Activities".
3. Kayaking
One of the best ways to see an island is by kayak.
Wayne, who runs Aotea Kayaks, can provide one-hour guided tours in double kayaks, arrange week-long circum-navigations of the island - and everything in between.
Like most islanders, he tells a great yarn.
Get him to tell you the story of why Taylors Bay is known now as Murderers Bay - it's a tale of passion, death, transtasman getaways and good ultimately triumphing over evil.
A one-hour sunset paddle is a good bet for beginners.
aoteakayak@hotmail.com
4. Arts and crafts
There are some truly talented artists on this island.
A visit to any of the galleries, exhibitions or arts and crafts store should see you come away with a unique and lovely souvenir of your stay.
These are not the daubings of bored housewives - there's sculpture, quilting, painting, photography and ceramics, and when I visited the exhibition at the community hall in Tryphena, I was disappointed but not at all surprised to see that every one of the exhibits had been sold.
The Aotea Community Art Gallery is on the main road about two kilometres north of the Claris shops.
5. Fishing, diving and surfing
This place is a fisherman's paradise - keen fishers already know about the Barrier, but if you're new to fishing, this is the place to learn the art.
Try Tryphena Charters in the first instance, but there are also any number of locals willing to take you out in their boats and give you the benefit of their knowledge.
For divers, as well as diving for your dinner, there are two wrecks to explore - the Wairarapa and the Wiltshire.
And for experienced surfers, there are four east coast beaches providing great right-hand breaks.
