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Eight active community organisations are involved in everything from protecting flora and fauna to promoting tourism on the island.
Naturally, a love of boating is the major draw card for most islanders. When the Kawau Boating Club closed in April 2014, locals and boaties rallied.
On Labour a few months later, the club was officially back up and running and it has almost 800 members now.
Real estate agent Dave Jeffery has lived on Kawau for 13 years and says living on the island appeals to an eclectic range of people.
“From hippies to brain surgeons and everyone between, there isn’t really a typical islander,” Dave says.
He believes Kawau has yet to reach its full potential having been on the periphery of the recent housing boom.
“I have around 30 listings, so we don’t have that lack of supply that fuels the market. If you’re looking to build, land here is around half the price of the mainland.”
He says that traditionally, the island was a place for second homes, but many of those are on the market because owners don’t have time to use them.
That has encouraged more permanent residents looking for better value property and predominantly working from home.
Paul (Taz) Strauss and his partner Alison moved to South Cove from West Auckland last year. Taz says fast broadband available via WiFi from Snells Beach was the deciding factor.
“We run computer repair and web design companies. I get around 40 MBPS broadband on the island – that’s more than I did in Auckland,” Taz says.
Taz commutes to Auckland three days a week, but says growing a local customer base and increasing remote work will reduce that in future.
To overcome the island’s isolation, the Kawau Emergency Response Trust (KERT) was formed to fundraise for first responders. Trust chair Ken Wells says they provide a wide range of emergency equipment.
“We’ve financed a jet ski to get first responders to emergencies around the island, as well as defibrillators, medical equipment, helipads, and three 25,000 litre water tanks for firefighting,” Ken says.
DOC manages Mansion House and the grounds are used for the yearly Music in the Gardens event run by Organisations Passionate About Kawau (OPAK). Group member Helen Jeffery says the initiative came about to help the island’s tourism.
“In 2013, Mansion House was closed and tourist numbers had gone down,” Helen says. “KERT had run a jazz festival in South Cove for a few years and I thought ‘why don’t we do a jazz festival at Mansion House’.”
The inaugural event in 2014 sold-out, with 450 attendees. The event is now in it’s fourth year and has increased to host 750 people.
Last year it raised $18,000 for Volunteer Coastguard, Camp Bentzon and KERT.
