For a period of 40 years until the late 1960s, the island was dominated by farming. The South Island was farmed by John Robey, a South African, with his wife Hilda. Robey's Farm is located on the west side of the south island, and although essentially complete in a "just walked away" fashion as late as the early 1980s, the location has since been extensively vandalised, and the farmhouse further damaged by weather and neglect by the Parks and Wildlife Service.