A huge crop of weeds has emerged from the ashes of a huge fire on Brown's Island in the Hauraki Gulf last year.
The weeds went largely ignored by the public until a team of boaties came on board, ferrying volunteers to the island to help.
"A lot of people think boaties are all about racing around - we love to get on the beach and clean the beaches up and pull a few weeds," chief executive of the Outboard Boating Club Brian Hood told Newshub.
"A great day out on a boat is to come to an island where you've actually contributed to the welfare of that island."
Just over 32 acres were burned last year, when a woman in her 30s made her way to the island and lit a fire. There were concerns for her mental wellbeing at the time.
In a statement to Newshub Auckland police said she lit a small signal fire for the purpose of being rescued, genuinely feeling she needed help, before it got out of control.
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Figures released to Newshub under the Official Information Act show the cost of fighting the fire was just under $90,000.
Police said a detective did investigate for a number of weeks but no charges were laid.
The blaze disrupted the seed bed underneath the native grass, leaving an "extensive reinvasion of pest plants", park ranger Jonah Kitto-Verhoef said.
"It's been somewhat neglected over the years," Waitemata and Gulf councillor Mike Lee told Newshub.
"But I believe it will be coming into its own... it's an absolutely beautiful gem of a place."
Surrounded almost entirely by a reef, Motukorea is not easily accessible. But now it's under council management and a discussion around more facilities on the Island is on the agenda.
Newshub.
