kauri logs rafted from Mercury Bay on the Coromandel Peninsula. In 1963, the island was bought by Dr Maxwell Rickard, president of the UPO (United Peoples' Organisation (Worldwide) Incorporated), with the aim of setting up a philanthropic community. Rickard was a clinical psychologist and hypnotherapist and also owned an Auckland nightclub and toured as a professional hypnotherapist under the name "The Great Ricardo". Plans for the island included a clinic for disturbed and nervous patients, an international orphanage, a refuge for unmarried mothers and homes for the elderly. However, these plans did not eventuate and the island was subdivided in 1965 into 25 blocks of and 125 smaller pieces of land which sold for between £2500 and £6000. Communication on the island was a problem, so the world's first solar-powered telephone was installed. While widespread use of mobile phones has reduced reliance on landlines, the phone is still in use and local calling to Auckland is free. Biodiversity In 2002 the invasive Norwegian rat was eradicated from Rakino Island. See also List of islands of New Zealand New Zealand outlying islands References External links Rakino Ratepayers Association Official Blog Islands of the Hauraki Gulf Islands of the Auckland Region Populated places in the Auckland Region Populated places around the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana rakinoisland.org