Daily swims and barefooted adventures lured this British couple to Aotearoa. When a siren call came a second time from across the sea, they followed — and never looked back. Words: Cari Johnson Photos: Tessa Chrisp There is truth in the fabled sightings of Waiheke Island’s purple-finned mermaid. Ann Skelly, a studio painter in Ostend, didn’t intend to become part of local folklore when she hauled her custom-made mermaid tail to a quiet beach, shimmied her toes into the fin, and cast her fantastical alter-ego into the sea. Nevertheless, children had a sixth sense for spotting her luminescent lower half.