□ □
[□] □
□* □
By a strange twist of fate a partner in our doctor 's practice , a family friend , was at Great Barrier Island on her own family 's boat , and Ian was tested on arrival , diagnosed not with plain old seasickness but with a grumbling appendix , and put to bed on the hospital ship ( the doctor 's boat ) following a preliminary radio call to the marine emergency centre in case a helicopter had to be summoned during the night . She went to France to stay with Pam 's brother Steve , who runs a hotel in a tiny village near Toulouse , and had a great time there . But , as with many pioneers , emulation came quickly , in this case taking the form of a huge trimaran that wanted to share our pristine emptiness . Then a ten-hour trip across open water to Great Barrier Island ( not the reef of the same name - - that 's Australia ! Always on private land , we hiked up steep hills , along beaches , through forest , across farmland , down gullies , along cliff tops , and through a native bush reserve .