It was the site (from the 1830s) of one of the country's first sheep farms, but is now government-owned and used for regenerating endangered species since it was made predator-free. Most recent notable item of history made front-page news all over New Zealand. A diver, Robert Hewitt, failed to surface just off the north-west tip of the island and was feared dead. Three days later he was found swimming about 500 metres to the east, having apparently drifted almost as far north as Kapiti Island and back. Being a brother of former All Black Norm Hewitt probably helped him get more publicity than he might have got.