Greatest pub on Earth! ORLA'S LAGER THAN LIFE BAR

Orders please! The Great Barrier Island pub has become a tourist attraction

- Kasia De Vydt-Jillings

On the remote shores of Great Barrier Island sits The Currach Irish Pub a welcoming haven that's played host to, among many others, Kiwi pop sensation Lorde, Six60, Holly Smith and British TV presenter George Clarke, who memorably peeled off his shirt at the bar during a recent visit.

But for proprietor Orla Cumisky, it's not the celebrity drop-ins that make her establishment special.

"There's an Irish welcome for everyone," she enthuses. "It doesn't matter if you're famous or a scallywag. We always say there are no strangers in Irish pubs just friends who haven't met yet." Originally from Dublin, Orla first set foot on the island in 2000 after her then-boyfriend, a Kiwi boat builder, convinced her it was worth the voyage.

"He talked about this subtropical paradise 100 kilometres off Auckland's coast - the most beautiful place he'd ever seen travelling the world for 18 years," she recalls.

"When we came over the hill from Tryphena and saw the view, it was like, 'Oh, my gosh, I feel like I've been here before.' I still get that feeling every time I pass the lookout." Over the next decade, Orla came and went before settling on the island for good in 2010, then with two young children in tow - Elliott, now 18, and Jasmine, 16.