Location
Orama is situated on a rugged and beautiful island 90 kilometers north-east of Auckland city. Great Barrier is the North Island's largest off-shore island and derives its name from the protection it gives the north-eastern area of the Hauraki Gulf. The island is just 35km long and 15km at its widest point.
Permanent residents number approximately 700 and local communities survive with no reticulated electricity, water or sewage. More than 60% of the island is administered by the Department of Conservation and there are a range of walking tracks. Most services are situated in the southern and central parts of the island. Services, such as banks and shops, taken for granted on the mainland, are few and far between here or simply do not exist.
Arriving on the Barrier is for many visitors like taking a step back in time to a less frenzied way of life, about 30% of the roads are unsealed and the pace of life is unhurried. Great Barrier is a unique landscape of rugged mountainous bush covered hills and cliffs, white sandy surf beaches and deep water coves, ideal for boating, diving and fishing.