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 Rex grew up in the 1930s on Stewart Island surrounded by the sea and people whose lives were ruled by the tides and the weather. Despite his mothers’ efforts to prevent him going into an industry that had taken the lives of some of her immediate family, Rex spent nearly 50 years making a living from the seas around his childhood home and along the Fiordland Coast. He remembers a time when crayfish were considered not worth catching. In this profile he gives an account of those early days and...

Overview It was 1960 when Dick Deaker first set foot in Fiordland as a schoolboy introduced to deerhunting expeditions. Three years later, he was back on a more permanent basis having started work as a deer culler in the nearby Takitimu Mountains and the Murchison Mountains/Takahe area. It wasn't long after gaining a private pilot's licence in 1968 that he combined his two great interests — hunting and aviation. By bringing out the deer he shot in his fixed wing Piper Cub, he could sell for a relatively...

Overview The tourism industry has been an essential contributor to the local economy of the Te Anau Basin since the formation of the Milford Track in the late 1800s. Following the opening of a vehicle route to Milford Sound in the 1950s, the number of visitors to the district has grown to the extent that an estimated 650,000 people a year spend at least a few hours at Milford. Dave Moss, has just retired from the local hospitality industry after about 35 years involvement. First, he was at Milford...

Overview Murray, now in his eighties, was selected as a participant in this oral history project because of his work with the Fiordland National Park in its earlier stages as well as his experience as a fisherman on the Fiordland coast. There are several other topics lightly touched upon in the interview, some of them highlighting the many changes that occurred in New Zealand society through the second half of the 20th century.