And The Rest Is History
The New Zealand Herald headlines from Saturday April 9th 1966 said it all.
"Pirate Radio Station In Gulf Planned"
The article went on to say.
"A Pirate radio station beaming a programme of popular music to the Auckland Province from a ship beyond the three-mile limit, in the Hauraki Gulf, may begin broadcasting in about six months. A group of young Auckland businessmen say they are adding the finishing touches to their plan to break the monopoly of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation....."
It seemed a simple plan at the time. It was a plan that would take almost four years to achieve its ultimate objective, it was a plan that captured the hearts of young New Zealand and it was a plan that would take its instigators on a pirate adventure to hell and back.
Plagued with constant financial problems, the Government and a series of shipwrecks caused by some of the worst storms of the 20th century, the story of Radio Hauraki's origins remains as compelling today as it was 40 years ago.
