Barbara Kendall is a legendary windsurfer, motivational speaker and five-time Olympian, winning gold, silver and bronze medals. We spoke to her about her top spot for winding down.
“Great Barrier Island has been our family's top spot for the last 25 years.
Every Christmas we sail out there. It takes us five hours to sail out there. And eight hours if we go the way around the back. And then when the weather does get a bit rough, we just go into Fitzroy Harbour and it's pretty calm and safe. There’s fishing, great water sports, surfing and now wind foiling. Amazing bushwalks and beaches and all the DOC campgrounds out there are really beautiful too.
Barbara Kendall loves the remoteness and easy pace of Great Barrier Island. Photo by Victoria Birkinshaw.
One Christmas holiday, it rained for the whole week. Living in a 32-foot yacht is pretty small with five of us! We'd go walking in the rain and come back but, nothing would ever dry and everything goes damp. We were pretty miserable actually! We ended up coming home early, but that was the only time I ever remember that happening.
You’re at the mercy of the elements out there, but I think it's the simplicity of it that’s great. Not having all our stuff and not being at home with jobs to do. We can just decompress and chill out. And that usually takes at least a couple of weeks of not having responsibilities, no emails, no phone calls. Phone reception is really bad out there, and that helps – it protects us from the outside world.
We've tried to go to other places, but we always end up coming back out to the Barrier.”
Story by Emily Draper for the Spring 2024 issue of AA Directions Magazine. Emily Draper is the Deputy Editor of AA Directions magazine.
Explore more from AA Directions magazine while you're here:
- Take a coastal road trip from Nelson to Kaikōura.
- How to stay safe when riding an e-scooter.
- Ocean warrior Pauline Tangiora explains the importance of protecting the sea.
