Birthday celebrations for two Whangarei 5-year-olds will be particularly memorable after they ended up stranded on an island.
It's not as dramatic as it sounds but it was an exciting day for Ella Pilkington and Robyn Blank after 11 people were stranded on Limestone Island yesterday when Robyn's dad's boat broke down while he was dropping people ashore.
"I left my phone on the island, we had an emergency phone on the boat but there was too much static. I swam to shore and the friendly Whangarei local let me use his phone and call Coastguard," the father, who did not want to be named, said.
The group had headed to Limestone Island about 11am for the celebrations.
While the Whangarei man was on shore he was wishing he was back on the island where the food was.