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Solve the secret of Mystery Island

<p>With a name like Mystery Island, adventure surely awaits on this uninhabited islet. <span>The good news is that tiny, 1.5-hectare Mystery Island can be solved in a day! It’s small enough to walk around the whole coast in 20 minutes, so you can experience everything from the tranquil to the taboo in a single visit to Vanuatu’s most southerly island.</span></p> <p>According to local tales, the name was bestowed on the island that was originally called Inyeug, by Queen Elizabeth II who visited in 1975 aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. Her entourage stopped for a picnic and were instantly bewitched. Truth <span>be known, it was more likely the marketing department of cruise line Sitmar who decreed it so, due to the precarious landing conditions before the sturdy jetty was later installed.</span></p> <p>Either way, were these first modern voyagers entranced by the ghosts and spirits that the locals on neighbouring Aneityum Island believe gather there after dark? These tales keep Inyeug uninhabited, but also made it a perfect lair for 19th century ‘blackbirders’ like Captain<span> James Paddon, men who would snatch locals to work on plantations back in Australia in the mid-19th century. Call them ‘slavers’ if you like.</span><span></span></p> <p class=""><span>It was after ‘discovery’ by Her Royal Highness that word spread and soon guests from cruise ships such as Fairstar, were being ‘secretly’ brought ashore for a day of idyllic relaxation on the magnificent beaches of newly christened Mystery Island. </span></p> <p class=""><span>With no electricity, running water, roads or telephones, you can pretend you’ve washed up on a deserted island like Gilligan and his crew and relax under your own palm tree. Or when you’re visiting from your cruise ship, join in the fun with villagers from Aneityum, who cross the waters to sell handicrafts, T-shirts and fresh seafood.</span></p> <p class=""><span>You can even have your photo taken in a cauldron with a cannibal. Don’t worry, he doesn’t really eat humans, but it shows that the locals have a great sense of humour.</span></p> <p>In contrast to the sad history of the blackbirders, cruise lines have worked hard with the locals and provided a boat to help them ferry supplies and develop activities for the guests and earn extra income for their communities.</p> <p>“Cruising has really improved our lifestyle, most houses now have generators, some now have boats, the school is available to all children and our shops are supplied a lot better than they ever have been. New shops are developing and this is most welcome,” says chief Silas, “Cruise ships give opportunities to islanders who want to work and sell things to the passengers. They can plant and sell taro, or operate tours, souvenir shops and kava bars.”</p> <p>Maintaining the island in its pristine condition is also part of the job. “Traditional life here fascinates people, particularly custom dancing, traditional food preparation and the games that children play,” says Tony Keith, a local employed as a ranger and marine conservationist. He keeps an eye on the exquisite reefs and the other locals who like to use the island, the serene green sea turtles, whose population is recovering after decades of over-harvesting.</p> <p><span>Is there more to the mystery? OK, don’t tell anyone, but hidden away on the other side of the island is a secret runway, built for the US Air Force during World War II. It’s still used occasionally to drop off guests and supplies but you won’t see it until you stumble upon it in the grass.</span></p> <p>The nearby marine reserve has much better (and easier) snorkelling than the main beaches. If you’re lucky, you might swim with Tony’s green turtles and see the tags he puts on them for his monitoring project.</p> <p>This is also one of the few places in the South Pacific where you can drink kava out of a coconut shell. It’s a mouth-numbing drink served at traditional welcoming ceremonies, which are held for visitors for a small fee. It’s best you drink just one cup, as be warned that it’s a lot stronger than the ‘lite’ kava you may have tried in Fiji.</p> <p class=""><span>The biggest mystery is why nobody lives in such a beautiful haven. Some say the island is still haunted, but we didn’t tell you that.</span></p> <p><em>Written by Roderick Eime. Republished with permission of <a href="https://www.mydiscoveries.com.au/stories/solve-the-secret-of-mystery-island/">MyDiscoveries.</a></em></p>

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Idyllic garden open to the community for spring fundraiser

<p>Yeverley McCarthy's life-long enthusiasm for her Hawea Flat garden has never waned from the day she stepped through the door to her historic farm cottage in 1978. The Hawea Flat community worker is looking forward to sharing her idyllic surroundings with the public on Sunday as part of the Lake Hawea Community Centre's fundraising Spring Garden Ramble.</p><p>Yeverley, a former North Islander, always knew she would be a gardener but hadn't dreamed Hawea Flat would capture her heart. But then she met her husband, industrial biochemist and a fourth-generation Hawea Flat McCarthy, Bill. He was working at Hellabys and she was working in sales and marketing in Auckland.</p><p>"When I proposed to him, he said, 'Well, we'll have to come home to Hawea Flat'," she recalled.</p><p>It was a deal and the couple enjoyed many long years together raising their family, farming and volunteering in the community before Bill died with leukaemia in 2013, aged just 65.</p><p>Over time, the 121-year-old stone cottage has been renovated, extended and remodelled.</p><p>Yeverley recalls when she moved it in was "all little rooms, a tiny kitchen, no view".</p><p>Just a few years ago, she and her husband finally decided to remove one of the internal walls to open up the living area so they could enjoy views across the farm to the mountains in the west.</p><p>Early photos show the house sitting in the middle of empty grasslands but Sunday's visitors will come up a drive lined with oak, chestnut and walnut trees, passing an organic orchard of pears, apples and plums on the left.</p><p>Johanna's legacy also includes a wellingtonia, a yew tree (wrapped and bound recently to keep it going). Varigated camellias share space with a magnolia stellata, a double cherry (in full bloom at the moment), and an huge, contorted wisteria which Yeverley has trained to grow up a palm tree.</p><p>"Johanna did a plan. We still have a book of all the trees she planted. When she got married, she was told she had a choice. Water, or a car. It was 1912 so she choose water. It comes from Hospital Creek, from a spring. It's the same system we use today, a gravity-fed system. Once we put our own irrigation system on - it comes in from an artesan bore - that tops the system up and now we have no problems or stress [about running out]."</p><p>Yeverley says the garden was a "great garden" under the watch of her mother-in-law, Muriel McCarthy, who picked up where Johanna left off and planted many more trees, including rhododendrons, an interesting gingko tree and an exotic "handkerchief tree" (or "ghost tree") that is very frost tender and just starting to flower this week.</p><p>Muriel's great gardening mates were Maryed Urquhart, who used to have The Nook nursery, Wanaka writer and retired Morven Hills Station farmer Madge Snow, who now lives in Wanaka, and the late Fiona Rowley of Lake Hawea Station.</p><p>"They are all very, very keen on their gardens and they had lots of precious bits and pieces that they just loved," Yeverley said.</p><p>"My only claim to fame is the liquid amber… I had the Tree Tamers out here recently and they told me it was rotten in the middle and has to be chopped down," Yeverley said.</p><p>A large hedged row of Douglas Fir shelters the garden from nor-west winds that rush down from the main divide, providing Yeverley with a calm spot to sit on the verandah, next to tremendously tall, flaming tulips gifted to her by Invercargill bulb growers, the Van Eeden family, after Bill passed away.</p><p>"I like roses and my peonies. I like all the seasons. That's the nice thing. You get different things for every season. It is idyllic. And I am doing more development with beech tree planting and replacing some of the trees that had to be removed."</p><p>Although the garden was always Yeverley's domain, Bill never let her down with hard work and he took particular pride in a willow tree in the driveway, which he kept nicely trimmed into an arch.</p><p>"It is very much mine and Bill's. We've worked hard and we love it. Even though Bill has died, I couldn't go to town. It is my heart and soul. I don't want any old Philistine taking over. They could wreck it," Yeverley laughed.</p><p>Written by Majorie Cook. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2015/10/all-blacks-fireworks-gone-wrong/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>All Blacks fireworks display gone wrong costs pyrotechnics company $100K</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2015/10/new-zealand%E2%80%99s-best-views-are-being-sold/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Some of New Zealand's most beautiful views are being sold to private hands</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2015/10/kiwis-avoid-app-store-price-hike/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Kiwis avoid Apple's App Store price hike</strong></em></span></a></p>

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Idyllic garden open to the community for spring fundraiser

<p>Yeverley McCarthy's life-long enthusiasm for her Hawea Flat garden has never waned from the day she stepped through the door to her historic farm cottage in 1978. The Hawea Flat community worker is looking forward to sharing her idyllic surroundings with the public on Sunday as part of the Lake Hawea Community Centre's fundraising Spring Garden Ramble.</p><p>Yeverley, a former North Islander, always knew she would be a gardener but hadn't dreamed Hawea Flat would capture her heart. But then she met her husband, industrial biochemist and a fourth-generation Hawea Flat McCarthy, Bill. He was working at Hellabys and she was working in sales and marketing in Auckland.</p><p>"When I proposed to him, he said, 'Well, we'll have to come home to Hawea Flat'," she recalled.</p><p>It was a deal and the couple enjoyed many long years together raising their family, farming and volunteering in the community before Bill died with leukaemia in 2013, aged just 65.</p><p>Over time, the 121-year-old stone cottage has been renovated, extended and remodelled.</p><p>Yeverley recalls when she moved it in was "all little rooms, a tiny kitchen, no view".</p><p>Just a few years ago, she and her husband finally decided to remove one of the internal walls to open up the living area so they could enjoy views across the farm to the mountains in the west.</p><p>Early photos show the house sitting in the middle of empty grasslands but Sunday's visitors will come up a drive lined with oak, chestnut and walnut trees, passing an organic orchard of pears, apples and plums on the left.</p><p>Johanna's legacy also includes a wellingtonia, a yew tree (wrapped and bound recently to keep it going). Varigated camellias share space with a magnolia stellata, a double cherry (in full bloom at the moment), and an huge, contorted wisteria which Yeverley has trained to grow up a palm tree.</p><p>"Johanna did a plan. We still have a book of all the trees she planted. When she got married, she was told she had a choice. Water, or a car. It was 1912 so she choose water. It comes from Hospital Creek, from a spring. It's the same system we use today, a gravity-fed system. Once we put our own irrigation system on - it comes in from an artesan bore - that tops the system up and now we have no problems or stress [about running out]."</p><p>Yeverley says the garden was a "great garden" under the watch of her mother-in-law, Muriel McCarthy, who picked up where Johanna left off and planted many more trees, including rhododendrons, an interesting gingko tree and an exotic "handkerchief tree" (or "ghost tree") that is very frost tender and just starting to flower this week.</p><p>Muriel's great gardening mates were Maryed Urquhart, who used to have The Nook nursery, Wanaka writer and retired Morven Hills Station farmer Madge Snow, who now lives in Wanaka, and the late Fiona Rowley of Lake Hawea Station.</p><p>"They are all very, very keen on their gardens and they had lots of precious bits and pieces that they just loved," Yeverley said.</p><p>"My only claim to fame is the liquid amber… I had the Tree Tamers out here recently and they told me it was rotten in the middle and has to be chopped down," Yeverley said.</p><p>A large hedged row of Douglas Fir shelters the garden from nor-west winds that rush down from the main divide, providing Yeverley with a calm spot to sit on the verandah, next to tremendously tall, flaming tulips gifted to her by Invercargill bulb growers, the Van Eeden family, after Bill passed away.</p><p>"I like roses and my peonies. I like all the seasons. That's the nice thing. You get different things for every season. It is idyllic. And I am doing more development with beech tree planting and replacing some of the trees that had to be removed."</p><p>Although the garden was always Yeverley's domain, Bill never let her down with hard work and he took particular pride in a willow tree in the driveway, which he kept nicely trimmed into an arch.</p><p>"It is very much mine and Bill's. We've worked hard and we love it. Even though Bill has died, I couldn't go to town. It is my heart and soul. I don't want any old Philistine taking over. They could wreck it," Yeverley laughed.</p><p>Written by Majorie Cook. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Related links:</strong></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2015/10/all-blacks-fireworks-gone-wrong/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>All Blacks fireworks display gone wrong costs pyrotechnics company $100K</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2015/10/new-zealand%E2%80%99s-best-views-are-being-sold/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Some of New Zealand's most beautiful views are being sold to private hands</strong></em></span></a></p><p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/2015/10/kiwis-avoid-app-store-price-hike/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Kiwis avoid Apple's App Store price hike</strong></em></span></a></p>

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