I spent my house deposit on a boat to reach the Mokohinau Islands - the magic on our doorstep | Clarke Gayford

It wasn't a financially astute move but it led to my TV series and helped me discover the truly important things in lifeGuardian writers and readers describe their favourite place in New Zealand's wilderness and why it's special to themMy entire experience of Auckland changed when I got a boat. It was the perfect antidote to a professional DJ lifestyle, where getting up at 5am to be on the water become immeasurably preferable to coming home at 5am from work. On trips out I began sticking my head underwater with such vigour that I somehow turned it into a whole new profession.It didn't happen straight away, of course. My 40-year-old, 14-foot beige fibreglass boat with a semi-reliable two-stroke engine, named Brown Thunder, only had so much range, and my real goal lay much farther offshore, tantalisingly out of reach. A place where tales of clear blue tropical water and huge fish swirled around a group of uninhabited islands, teasing me from the pages of marine magazines or the crusty lips of old salty sea-mates. Continue reading...