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 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 For about twenty years, Olive was a member of the Board of Directors of Real Journeys (formerly trading as Fiordland Travel Ltd), one of New Zealand's largest tourist operators. Her late husband, Les Hutchins, was instrumental in shaping and developing tourism in Fiordland from small beginnings in 1954 to the multi-million dollar industry it has become in 2005. In this profile, Olive describes the changes she has witnessed from life on a farm in Myross Bush, bringing up a young family on the...

Overview Gloria has lived in Manapouri for nearly sixty years. One of only a handful of residents, she left Dunedin to join her husband, George Lindsay, who worked for several years as guide and launchmaster for Les Murrell's small tourism operation on Lake Manapouñ and Doubtful Sound. It was eventually taken over by Les Hutchins and became the starting point for the successful company, Fiordland Travel Ltd. In her interview Gloria tells of her early life in Dunedin and what it was like moving to...

Overview In this interview, Jim recounts his family history and his early life on the West Coast. He began his working life saw milling but his passion was hunting deer. Jim then became involved in the deer culling programme in Fiordland. After an accident involving his hunting dog Jim then worked on the Doubtful Sound track and ran a passenger boat service. He built a house in Manapouri before moving to Australia for 4 years where he continued with hunting. On his return to New Zealand he took up...

Overview As Jack explains through the interview, his connection with Manapouri reaches back several generations. His great grandfather, (Old Bob) Robelt Murrell arrived at Bluff in 1863 and settled at Balloon Loop (by the Waiau River) two years later. The Murrell family is one of first explorers, farmers, tour guides and accommodation providers in the Te Anau Basin. In this profile, Jack is historian and raconteur. He also gives a personal account of growing up in an area that has undergone enormous...

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...