Overview In 1965, as Te Anau faced a surge in population due to two major government construction projects in the district, John Donaldson saw an opportunity to set up his own pharmacy business in the town. A lean-to built onto another shop on the main street was the start of a 31-year tenure as Te Anau's pharmacist during which time he was also involved in the community's first ambulance service as well as its high school and local council. All of these topics are discussed through the interview during...

Overview Forty years ago the Te Anau Basin underwent dramatic change as a result of some large government projects. The country's biggest farm development scheme had begun in the Te Anau Basin the previous decade, but its real effects on the landscape and community was not apparent until the 1960s and 1970s. As a farm manager and field officer for the Department of Lands & Survey during that time, Tom recalls what was involved in the development of the area he was appointed to oversee - the...

Overview A resident of Manapouri for more than forty years, Irene has played an active role in the community, initially because of her parental involvement in the local schools and later as a local government representative. In addition to bringing up their five children, Irene also worked alongside her husband during the years he operated his own charter boat tour guide business in Doubtful Sound. Latterly, as well as local government issues she was also a representative on the Guardians of the...

Overview The son of a shearer who worked in the Te Anau Basin during the 1940s, Cliff's first introduction to the district was in 1945. Since then he has developed extensive knowledge of the deer-run hinterland as well as the craggy coastline of the southern fiords where he spent many years both as fisherman and tourism operator. In this interview, Cliff remembers traditional skills such as blade-shearing and oyster-catching as well as forming a small tourism business in Doubtful Sound. He also talks...

Overview As a young teenager, Colin left school to pursue his ambition to become a farmer. Starting out at Lynwood Station as a farmhand, he eventually worked on various large properties throughout the southern South Island; mustering, shearing, ploughing and learning first hand what farm work involved. By his mid-twenties, he was married with a young family and on his own small farm back home in Greenhills. The family moved to Castlerock and eventually to the Lillbum Valley where for more than...

Overview Farm development was a major government policy in the 1950s and 1960s and the Te Anau Basin underwent the largest South Island scheme across four decades. Although a new kid on the Long Valley Block in 1968, Phil had previously gained stock management experience on a stud farm in Mid-Canterbury. Before that, he had worked on farms across Southland and in Canterbury as a shearer as well as a general hand. In this profile, Phil talks about some of that work experience and focuses on the...

Overview Hunter's first encounter with the forests and lakes of Fiordland occurred when his parents shifted south from Auckland bringing him and his younger brother with them. From an early age the allure of the bush stayed with him and by his late teens he knew it was where he wanted to live and work. For the next twenty-five years, Hunter became a professional deer hunter setting up his own base in the Back Valley of Manapouri. Taking knowledge from older bushmen and hunters, he rebuilt former cattle...

Abstract Interviewee: John Donaldson Interview date: 18 October 2006Interviewer: Morag ForresterTape counter: Sony TCM 939Tape 1 Side A004: States he is JOHN MALCOLM DONALDSON and that he was born on 22/SEPTEMBER/1936 in CHRISTCHURCH adding that he grew up in the SPREYDON district. 012: Replies that he was the only male child in a family of SIX and names his SISTERS as PAULINE, BETTY, JUDITH, ALISON and...