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It has been such a success that someone has donated funds to have one made for the school , so Pam is now looking for teacher volunteers to join her at a marimba-construction workshop . From the top are gorgeous views of the islands in the Hauraki Gulf , our home sailing waters , dotted around the sparkling azure water , with vibrant green vegetation and white-sand beaches . But while the walking was arduous at times , the landscape and views were varied and stunning - - at one point we even caught a glimpse of Mount Cook far away in the central South Island . They hiked down a vertiginously steep and narrow winding staircase that provided strenuous exercise for the leg muscles , and returned on a cable car strung high across a valley with absolutely stupendous views . Think columns : Havana is the city of columns . Though the weather was rainy and grey , they did manage so glimpse some great views through gaps in the cloud . We took the ferry to Sydney , did the tourist things , and went on a lovely long walk ( two or three hours ) around the harbour shore ending up at Manly , with stunning harbour views . In late autumn ( i.e. April ) Pam and Ian returned to Great Barrier Island for a few days in a rather different style , this time flying over and staying in a communal house or " whare " belonging to Liz , one of Pam 's friends in the Auckland recorder group , along with the rest of the group and their husbands . The issue was BSE : we were symbolic pawns in a Montana-Alberta trade war involving unsubstantiated US claims of tainted beef exports which brought southern Alberta 's farming economy to its knees .