King Island Dairy head cheese maker Ueli Berger credits the island’s climate for much of its food reputation. “We hardly get a frost because we have the ocean around us, and all winter the cows can be grazing on the grass,” he says. “So it’s quite easy to make a good product because we have pure raw product to start with.”

Bull kelp hangs to air-dry at Kelp Industries, south of Currie. Each year about 1800 tonnes of dried kelp is exported, mainly to Scotland, where its alginic acid is extracted for use in a variety of products, including ice-cream and shampoo. The island’s only souvenir store, Kelp Craft, also bakes the kelp into a range of figurines.

Boathouse operator Caroline Kininmonth.