A feudal playground

The first time I went to Waiheke Island, in the 1980s, the place still had its own county council.

- Russell Brown

A friend and I were house-sitting for his sister, who had seen the writing on the wall and was in the process of moving to Great Barrier for some peace. We borrowed the creaky old bikes at the house and rode all over the place. The roads were rural and land was cheap.

These days, the island has a different reputation. It’s seen negatively, as the playground of the rich. The median asking price for homes is $2.6 million and the Prime Minister recently saved himself $8100 in rates by convincing Auckland Council his pad at Onetangi beach was worth only $7 million and not $10.5 million.

But other people live there, too. People like my mate, who landed on the island 20 years ago after a traumatic period in his life, met a lovely woman, and to his surprise, found himself starting a new family in his 50s. For nearly all that time, he has worked tending the estate of a couple who have done well in the tech industry and spend most of their year in New York.