Steve Gentry - Graves and Huts

Steve Gentry has finished writing a history of the Kermadec Islands as a whole, but inevitably the book is focussed largely on Raoul. The book is basically a human history, but as the human history is unavoidably and inextricably linked to the natural history of the islands, this will also be covered.

The book's title is Raoul Island and the Kermadecs – New Zealand's Northernmost Islands.

The research and writing of the book has engaged Steve for the last four years since he retired from the corporate scene and before that from consulting engineering practice. He is not an “Old Raoulie”, but his interest in the islands stems from 2004 when he became aware of Rodney Russ's proposed first tourist trip up there in 'The Spirit of Enderby' in March 2005.

In attempting to do some homework on the islands prior to the visit Steve became fascinated with the history. He found there was a wealth of material available, but it was disparate and fragmented. In regaling this to a historian friend well after the visit, the retort came back “Well why don't you do something about it” This resonated with Steve and he set out to do just that.

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Steve is after information and requests will appear here as required. If you have any info you think would be useful, you can contact Steve at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Here is a photo of Kilmister's grave at Low Flat who was buried alongside Carter who both drowned at Raoul 1938/39. Can anybody recall where these graves were or seen them. They don't appear to be there anymore and may have succumbed to erosion at Low Flat.

Does anyone have knowledge of where the No.1 Outpost was as in this photo. It's been put forward that it is at Trig 5 (Expedition Hill) but doesn't match up with photos of the Trig 5 hut as in 1955 and 1978.

No.1 Outpost, Raoul Island, Sorenson 1944

Photo Stephen Perrott Trig 5 Hut, 1955

Photo Mike Fraser Trig 5 Hut 1978

In trying to locate the No.1 Outpost location, we came across this article by Len Chambers (1949) in the 'The Islander' magazine March 1974, where a hill called Pukemiro is mentioned. It does not appear on any maps. Does anyone know where Pukemiro is ? A copy of this article for reading can be downloaded here as a 4.9mb pdf file.

Also below is the grave of Daniel Blackwood at Low Flat. Would anyone know when the grave was reconstructed as in the 1982 photo ?

Photo: Danial Blackwood Grave, Alf Bacon 1939