Interviewee: Irene Barnes

Date recorded: 2 August 2006

Interviewer: Morag Forrester

Abstractor: Morag Forrester

Tape counter: Sony TCM 939

Tape 1 Side A

006: States she is IRENE ROSSLYN BARNES (née ALLAN) and that she was born 1938 at the cottage hospital in BLUFF.

016: Says her FATHER was ROBERT ALLAN, born in 1899 in the WEST COAST town of DENNISTON, WAIMANGAROA and that his ancestors probably came from ENGLAND.

033: Replies that her FATHER was employed as a TALLY CLERK (in BLUFF) adding that he was clever at anything to do with numerical figures. Says he was (volunteer) CHIEF STATISTICIAN for the MARCHING ASSOCIATION of SOUTHLAND during the years that her SISTER was a MARCHER.

041: Part of the WATERSIDERS UNION, his job as TALLY CLERK involved keeping an account of everything that came in and went out of the BLUFF PORT.

051: Mentions her FATHER had a SISTER who died at a young age and a BROTHER who disappeared without trace in the NELSON area.

058: States her MOTHER was ISOBEL MARGARET MCDONALD, born in AUSTRALIA in 1900 and arrived at BLUFF with her family on the ship, ULIMAROO, in 1908.

065: Adds that her PARENTS met and married in 1920 and that she was the youngest of four CHILDREN born between 1927 and 1938.

073: Recalls BLUFF as being a “lovely town to grow up in”, adding that the PORT was the hub and where regattas and other special events were held. In particular, she remembers NEW YEAR’S DAY when the townsfolk assembled by the PORT.

081: Other occasions she recalls were the annual WHARFIES PICNICS which were held as far away as OTAUTAU and TUATAPERE and involved entire families travelling by train to get there and back.

093: Mentions her maternal GRANDMOTHER who lived to the age of ninety-three and recalls she was always dressed in black clothes as befitted widowhood. Adds that her GRANDMOTHER lived with other relatives in BLUFF so she visited every SUNDAY.

109: Names her siblings (in descending order) as DOROTHY, WARREN and WINSOME and although she (the participant) was the youngest, she was not treated with any sort of favouritism by her PARENTS.

121: Replies that she attended BLUFF PRIMARY SCHOOL and that she and her siblings walked the two kilometres to and from the SCHOOL which was on the same street (FOYLE ST) as their family home.

131: As it served the whole community, she says, it was quite a large SCHOOL.

148: With reference made by the interviewer to a fishing boat accident in FOVEAUX STRAIT in 2006 resulting in the deaths of people from the BLUFF community, the participant replies that similar tragic events occurred in the town when she was growing up.

151: “There’s been, yes, lots of BLUFF men…drowned…in FOVEAUX STRAIT and they (the community) actually have a special memorial for them…fishermen that have lost their lives.”

167: Returning to her early SCHOOL years, she affirms that traditional teaching methods (the three Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic) were used. Also says that the classroom contained a mix of MAORI families such as the TOPIS (whose relatives died in the above-mentioned fishing accident) and the TROWS.

175: Mentions how the MAORI children were able to take time off their schooling to take part in the traditional MUTTONBIRD season on the MUTTONBIRD ISLANDS.

186: “We’d go down to the waterside and watch them loading the boats ready to go to the MUTTONBIRD ISLANDS and there’d be big boxes of biscuits and sweets going on board for the children and it always seemed so…so exciting (laughs)…to go off on an adventure late at night and not return for another three months.”

193: Explains that the MUTTONBIRD is commonly known as the TITI and migrates to the SOUTHERN OCEAN and FOVEAUX STRAIT and the offshore islands there. Different islands, she continues, were traditionally allocated to different IWI (tribal groups) to the annual cull of the migrating birds. She further explains that when she was younger, the method used was to dig the birds out of their burrows, break their necks, pluck the feathers off, salt the carcasses and put them into KITIS (seaweed and flax baskets) ready to transport them back to the mainland at the end of the season, which lasts for about three months from MARCH.

206: “I would doubt that there’s a BLUFF person that doesn’t know how to eat a MUTTONBIRD or cook a MUTTONBIRD. They were certainly a delicacy and still are today.” Person recorded: Irene Barnes

212: Discussion turns to the BLUFF OYSTER, which is also considered a culinary delicacy. However, she says that the days of the BLUFF OYSTER “as we knew them” seem to have gone (due to overfishing) but adds that “with careful consideration they could rejuvenate”.

221: Recalls seeing the OYSTER boats returning to PORT laden with sacks of OYSTERS. “They’d be tilted to one side: you’d almost think they would tip over if you were lucky enough to see them coming in.”

228: Back again to her SCHOOL years, says that at the age of thirteen she started at the SOUTHLAND GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL in INVERCARGILL. To get there and back, she says, she took the “notorious BLUFF train”.

231: Mentions she had been CO-DUX of BLUFF PRIMARY with another girl called LOIS HOPGOOD.

240: During her first two years at SOUTHLAND GIRLS HIGH, she says, she studied FRENCH and LATIN as well as the core subjects, but persuaded her parents to allow her to take HOME ECONOMICS in her final year although she laughs that it still remains as much a mystery to her as FRENCH and LATIN.

249: On leaving SCHOOL, she says, she got a job at the GOODALL’S SHOE STORE in INVERCARGILL until she got MARRIED (to CLIFF BARNES).

254: BLUFF, she adds, was where they first settled into MARRIED life apart from a short stay at DEBORAH BAY, near PORT CHALMERS on the east coast.

260: Prompted by the interviewer, she explains her earlier comment about the BLUFF train being “notorious” stating that it was based on the little rituals involving the new entrants to the HIGH SCHOOLS in INVERCARGILL.

263: Mentions that the train carriages were segregated to keep the genders apart and that in the boys carriages there’d be rough and tumble fights often resulting in some of the combatants arriving at the station with ripped shirts on their first day at school. There were also a few daredevils, she says, who hung off the train or climbed up onto the roof.

271: “The BLUFF train children were always being called up to assembly”, she adds commenting that it was a widespread phenomenon involving several secondary schools in the city.

319: With reference to the GREAT DEPRESSION and its effects in NEW ZEALAND in the 1930s and 40s, she replies that there probably had been some evidence of it in BLUFF. In particular, she remembers the RATION BOOKS that were used, particularly during and immediately after WWII.

326: Recalls one incident on her way to school when she picked up a mislaid coupon book and took it home thinking that her PARENTS would be able to use it. But instead they insisted she return it to the owner which she did and was rewarded with ten shillings.

332: “You couldn’t do anything without your RATION BOOK....You would have to wait for your next lot of coupons to come out so ten shillings was nothing because you couldn’t buy anything.”

337: Replies that her PARENTS never had a car or a telephone. Says they walked or took public transport if they went anywhere. “That’s the way people travelled.”

345: Recalls her elder sister and herself cycling the five miles (8km) to GREENHILLS to visit relatives. Adds that they would often walk to the dam at BLUFF HILL on SUNDAY afternoons.

352: There were many activities in BLUFF to keep children occupied, she says, adding that she was a member of the BROWNIES, the GUIDES, and sang with the ST. PAUL’S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CHOIR.

366: Swimming in the sea was another childhood activity she remembers. Mentions that the NEW ISLAND HARBOUR was built in the 1950s but before then, she and friends were able to spend their summers on the beach at the bottom of their hill (on FOYLE ST).

376: Cannot recall there being any major crises they had to deal with which would have been made easier if her PARENTS had had a car or a telephone. When she had to have an operation in hospital, she says, she travelled by bus there and back adding that the length of hospital stay was about two weeks unlike the 24-hour stay of present day.

390: Remembers VE Day in 1945 because the children were sent home early from school and there was a general air of excitement and anticipation of servicemen returning home from EUROPE.

398: Similarly, she remembers the end of the WAR in the PACIFIC because of the NAVY vessels in the BLUFF PORT. Recalls the boats had colourful flags which spelt out a message (by semaphore).

408: In the 1950s, she considers, life as a teenager was quite limited compared with present day. “You didn’t have cars, you didn’t have that ability to be out and about…Your time of getting home was governed by the public transport.”

411: Mentions that BLUFF had its own movie theatre and various halls at which dances were held. “I don’t ever remember going to a party. I was never in a pub in BLUFF until many many years (later) when I returned to family social gatherings.”

416: Recalls the first dance she went to was held in the BARBOURS HALL and (off-tape) she remembers how the boys all lined up on one side and the girls on the other.

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005: States that she left SCHOOL at the age of fifteen which, she adds, was not uncommon. Usually, she says, it was the wealthier parents who could keep their children on at SCHOOL and possibly further education. It was not an option, she continues, in her family.

026: Replies that retail work at GOODALLS SHOE STORE appealed to her. Mentions that the GOODALLS who run the shop now were schoolboys when she was working for their father. Adds that the premises were in CAMBRIDGE PLACE, INVERCARGILL, as they are today.

041: While she is unable to remember how much she earned there, she says there was less spending power than nowadays.

048: She and her peers, she says, contributed some of their wages to their parents for board and had to pay travel expenses to and from INVERCARGILL so there was not much left to spend on personal items.

060: Affirms that she stayed at home until she got MARRIED, adding that again that was the norm. “All of my friends lived at home…none of them flatted.”

069: Social life was mainly going to the movies, the ice-rink in INVERCARGILL and roller-skating, dances and annual balls. The latter, she says, were keenly supported. The OYSTERMEN’S BALL in BLUFF, she adds, was the highlight of the year.

090: Replies that there were strict codes of conduct with regards to dating. For example, she says, a girl had to be home by a specific time and the dating couple would not be allowed to “linger too long at the gate”.

105: Regarding her HUSBAND, CLIFF BARNES, she says both their families knew each other but she met him through the fact that her school friend lived in GREENHILLS (where the BARNES’ also lived).

123: States CLIFF was born in 1934 and replies that they were courting for a year before they MARRIED and remembers that their engagement was a fairly formal event. Comments that the norm in the 1950s was for the boy to seek permission from the girl’s parents first before making a proposal to her. Person recorded: Irene Barnes

136: In their case, she remembers, there had been some opposition because they were young and of differing religious backgrounds – PRESBYTERIAN and ROMAN CATHOLIC. However, a compromise was reached and the wedding was held in the BLUFF CATHOLIC CHURCH (in APRIL 1957).

170: The reception, she says, was held at her parents’ house.

198: Replies that becoming a MOTHER at the age of eighteen did not alarm her unduly and that she had a lot of support from family living nearby in BLUFF.

212: Their first home as a MARRIED COUPLE was in MACDOUGALL ST and she says they were able to buy the property through the help of CLIFF’S boss who acted as guarantor.

226: Mentions that they had the bank loan for the property paid off in quite a short time.

229: States that they have FIVE surviving CHILDREN having lost their first SON, ROBERT, at birth. He was born after the eldest, ROSSLYN, who is followed by DEBBIE, CRAIG, GEOFFREY and LEITH.

236: Says CRAIG had just turned three years old when the family moved to MANAPOURI in DECEMBER 1963.

245: Replies that they had been in TE ANAU previously during a visit to some of CLIFF’S relatives (named BEATON) who owned a CRIB (holiday home) on the lakefront. Currently, the same building is used as an artist’s gallery.

256: Reflects that she found it difficult to leave BLUFF because they were heading for the unknown and she was apprehensive about the two older CHILDREN going to a new school which involved their travelling by bus (between MANAPOURI and TE ANAU) at a young age.

275: Mentions that they moved to MANAPOURI where CLIFF was employed as SKIPPER/ENGINEER by LES HUTCHINS who owned the MANAPOURI DOUBTFUL SOUND TOURIST COMPANY. At the time the government had approved a major HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER PROJECT involving the catchments of LAKES MANAPOURI and TE ANAU and the WAIAU RIVER.

285: Instead of raising the lakes, she says, CONTROL GATES were built at the lower MARAROA RIVER and later at LAKE TE ANAU where it flows into the WAIAU RIVER. As part of the project, the government was considering raising the levels of each lake (TE ANAU by 12ft, MANAPOURI by 100ft) thereby submerging areas of land around the lakes. The proposal created a swell of public opposition and the formation of the SAVE MANAPOURI CAMPAIGN. Ultimately it cost the governing NATIONAL PARTY which lost the general election of 1972 to the opposition LABOUR PARTY in a landslide defeat.

289: Recalls that at first, the MANAPOURI DOUBTFUL SOUND TOURIST COMPANY operated from a tin shed at PEARL HARBOUR, MANAPOURI and mentions that CLIFF and she went through the many changes the company encountered as it developed, including the purchase of a TE ANAU-based company which led to the name change to FIORDLAND TRAVEL. (In 2003, the company again changed its brand name to REAL JOURNEYS).

299: Comments that with the present RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACT, it is unlikely that the MANAPOURI HYDRO-ELECTRIC SCHEME would ever have got off the ground because of the major environmental upheaval. And yet, she says, the SCHEME has been of benefit to many people in the FIORDLAND area due to large-scale expansion of the TOURISM industry.

314: Explains that before the SCHEME began, there was no way to get into DOUBTFUL SOUND apart from a walking track from WEST ARM (built by LES MURRELL, the previous owner of the MANAPOURI DOUBTFUL SOUND TOURIST COMPANY).

316: After the road to DEEP COVE was constructed, she says, TOURISM into DOUBTFUL SOUND on a bigger scale could be achieved.

330: Recalls that CLIFF worked long hours towing vessels and barges into and out of DEEP COVE as demand increased and considers that he missed out on their CHILDREN’S upbringing in the early years. And even later, she says, when he set up his own CHARTER TOUR company (FIORDLAND CRUISES LTD), it was back to working very long hours so he missed out on the CHILDREN’S later years.

342: Mentions that although she had left the support of family in BLUFF in 1963, the close-knit community of MANAPOURI at that time provided a different type of support. Names people such as the HUTCHINS (LES and OLIVE), GLORIA LINDSAY and family, and the HICKS (BOB and MAVIS).

347: By the later 1960s, she says, more people were living in the community as FIORDLAND TRAVEL grew and the HYDRO VILLAGE was built to house the hundreds of workers and their families employed on the POWER SCHEME.

Person recorded: Irene Barnes

356: As for facilities, she says that in 1963 there was the TOURIST office at PEARL HARBOUR, a small SHOP and petrol pumps which were initially operated by GLORIA LINDSAY until the SHOP was taken over by JACK MURRELL (his SISTER-IN-LAW, CHRISTINE, was its previous owner) who also operated petrol bowsers.

366: Replies that electricity had been installed in the community by 1963, but that in the first house they had (on VIEW ST), water was pumped from a storage well which contained rainwater held in a tank on the roof. When they moved two years later to the lakefront (CATHEDRAL DRIVE), their new house was connected to the town water supply.

390: Explains that it was a house provided by FIORDLAND TRAVEL, which they later bought outright.

395: With the formation of the HYDRO VILLAGE, the community was provided with a nearby school called MANAPOURI DISTRICT HIGH.

399: Describes the location of the HYDRO VILLAGE as being on the right-hand side of SH95 in the direction of TE ANAU at the KEPLER FARM BLOCK. The gates and the tar-sealed road, she says, are evidence of the VILLAGE’S existence. On the KEPLER HILL, she adds, there are still the water tanks that serviced the VILLAGE.

412: Tape stopped as discussion continues about actual timelines of the HYDRO VILLAGE which was built in the mid-1960s and completely dismantled at the end of the HYDRO POWER PROJECT in the mid-1970s.

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012: Continues discussion about the HYDRO VILLAGE and says it was removed at about the time that the FIORDLAND COLLEGE was being built in TE ANAU (providing secondary education for children in the district). The new school opened in 1975.

035: In stating that their younger CHILDREN attended FIORDLAND COLLEGE, she adds that the two youngest were born after they moved to MANAPOURI.

050: Affirms that there was no secondary school in the district for the eldest CHILD, ROSSLYN, who attended SOUTHLAND GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL in INVERCARGILL, as did the second CHILD, DEBBIE, who received a bursary to attend the SCHOOL, although she later went to MANAPOURI DISTRICT HIGH.

064: Mentions that CRAIG was a first day pupil at both MANAPOURI DISTRICT HIGH and FIORDLAND COLLEGE. Person recorded: Irene Barnes

072: Recalls that when the CHILDREN first went to TE ANAU PRIMARY SCHOOL, they travelled by school bus which took the longer route via the HILLSIDE ROAD because the MANAPOURI to TE ANAU ROAD was unsealed, although not for long after the HYDRO POWER SCHEME construction work began.

082: Considers therefore that MANAPOURI again was favoured by these further advantages as a result of the SCHEME – an upgraded road to TE ANAU and a local SCHOOL.

089: All three younger CHILDREN, she says, went to FIORDLAND COLLEGE.

103: Remembers that after the POWER SCHEME was completed, the HYDRO VILLAGE “very quickly disappeared as though it had never been there”. Adds that the ridges bordering the village sports area are still visible and mentions that this had also been the temporary camp site for the overseas participants in an OPERATION RALEIGH exercise (in the 1980s) which worked on building the KEPLER TRACK (a 60k loop walk near TE ANAU which climbs MT LUXMORE).

116: The years from the 1960s to the 1980s, she says, were great for CHILDREN growing up in the district because they could interact with their peers from around the world (due to the many international workers employed on the SCHEME).

126: When the HYDRO VILLAGE was dismantled, she replies, some of the houses were shifted to TE ANAU and MANAPOURI; others were taken to the POWER DAM construction site at TWIZEL in the MACKENZIE COUNTRY. “They were all transported in and they were all transported out.”

132: Mentions another advantage of the SCHEME was the district being provided with its first doctor (GP). Previously, the nearest doctor was based at LUMSDEN (100kms distant) so people had to travel there or wait till the next time he/she visited a clinic set up in the local store (RADFORDS) in TE ANAU.

141: When the VILLAGE was dismantled, she continues, one of the houses was moved to the present site of the FIORDLAND MEDICAL CENTRE in TE ANAU and used as a clinician’s facility until purpose-built offices were constructed. (Recently the MEDICAL CENTRE has been redeveloped).

146: States that their two younger CHILDREN were born at the LUMSDEN MATERNITY HOSPITAL.

163: Referring to the earlier years in MANAPOURI and bringing up their CHILDREN when her HUSBAND, CLIFF, was often absent due to work, she says this was the precursor to her involvement with local council matters as she ended up on the local PTA (PARENT TEACHERS ASSOCIATION).

177: People in the settlement, she says, worked together on a practical level regarding childcare or shopping for each other.

184: Replies that their household always had a TELEPHONE and CAR – even that she had a WASHING MACHINE and a REFRIGERATOR before her MOTHER did.

191: Says she got involved in the PTA through their CHILDREN being at the local SCHOOL and continues to have an interest in such matters at FIORDLAND COLLEGE.

204: Names the first PRINCIPAL TEACHER at MANAPOURI DISTRICT HIGH as DON BLAKIE who with his wife, LORNA, lived in MANAPOURI. While there were several other PRINCIPALS at the SCHOOL “they stand out as being the ones who were involved in our community”.

213: Explains that being on the PTA meant helping the teachers to better understand their pupils as well as being involved in activities such as raising money for the SCHOOL.

230: Comments that at that stage, CHILDREN were able to be disciplined both at SCHOOL and in the home, something that she says no longer exists. Adds that now that smacking as a form of punishment is generally criticised, even a deterrent such as detention seems no longer possible. “Your ability to discipline CHILDREN is being eroded.”

249: Says that she helped out as a TEACHER AIDE at MANAPOURI DISTRICT HIGH and considers the standard of education provided was beneficial. “They were a wonderful bunch of teachers.”

265: Recalls that in the late 1960s into the early 1970s there were some sad departures as the older male pupils from the UNITED STATES returned home only to be sent to fight in the VIETNAM WAR. “One family lost two of their boys when they left here and of course that was pretty traumatic for the kids who had known them.”

285: Those same decades, she says, saw growth in both the TOURISM and CRAYFISHING industries in FIORDLAND which resulted in greater development of TE ANAU township. MANAPOURI, she says, has only expanded in the last ten years with most of that growth being in retirement homes.

294: Mentions the creation (in the 1970s) of the NZED (NEW ZEALAND ENERGY DEPARTMENT) houses in MANAPOURI which were built for workers at the WEST ARM POWER STATION.

305: Explains the background to the MANAPOURI RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION of which she was a member. Says that when the HYDRO VILLAGE was being dismantled, the garage was offered for sale to the MANAPOURI shop owner, who at that time was JACK MURRELL. In addition, she says, the community was offered first refusal on the HYDRO VILLAGE HALL but rejected it because of the anticipated cost of the rates charged for the property.

317: So, she continues, the community took a different approach and noted that in the NZED contract, the workers were promised a HALL, so in effect, the HALL could be transferred to MANAPOURI for the POWER STATION workers. But, she says, the NZED kept trying to foist the maintenance (and therefore the cost of rates) onto the wider community “and we didn’t want it”.

324: As a result, she says, the MANAPOURI RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION was formed to fight the issue “and fight it we did for many years”.

327: Replies that there were probably about eight committee members and describes its SECRETARY, ANTHEA LEVY, as a very strong force.

330: In 1979, she says, the ASSOCIATION became an incorporated body because although the HALL was shifted to MANAPOURI, the battle became one of who was to fight to pay for its upkeep.

333: “We were always promised that we would never have to pay rates on it.” Relevant documentation, she adds, would have been logged by the WALLACE COUNTY COUNCIL (the local authority that dealt with issues in the TE ANAU BASIN prior to the 1989 restructure of local authorities which resulted in the formation of the SOUTHLAND DISTRICT COUNCIL).

337: As an aside, she says, at the time of the restructure a lot of local authority records were lost.

340: Increasingly, she says, the ASSOCIATION was dealing with wider issues than just the rates/upkeep of the HALL – such as sewerage, water and related matters. As a result, she says, in 1988 two other members of the ASSOCIATION asked her if she would consider standing for election to the TE ANAU COMMUNITY BOARD (previously known as the TE ANAU COMMUNITY COUNCIL).

350: Having agreed, she says, she was successfully elected to that BOARD.

354: Names some of the past chairpersons on the RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION as DENIS MCLEOD and CLEM HERBERT, a GORE-based businessman who owned a CRIB in MANAPOURI and was actively involved in the FIORDLAND PLAYERS ASSOCIATION. Person recorded: Irene Barnes

360: Says she served on the TE ANAU COMMUNITY BOARD from 1989 till 2001 and was its only MANAPOURI representative.

366: Names some of the other BOARD members as CHRIS CARRAN, DAVE MOSS, BILL NEILSEN, FRANA CARDNO and DIANE RIDLEY.

369: Recalls that the only MANAPOURI issue that slipped through the net was the long-fought matter of who was responsible for paying the rates on the MANAPOURI HALL. Adds that it was the intervention of a newer resident to the community and one who no longer lives there that brought about the change.

371: The aforementioned resident, she says, thought the payment of the HALL’s rates should be the responsibility of the local community, organised a petition in support of this stance and won a majority vote on the matter.

375: “Overturned everything that we had fought for which was a great disappointment to us.”

383: Describes the HALL as a “deteriorating obstacle” and says that although it is being used as a library facility for four hours a week, there is a full library available to MANAPOURI residents in TE ANAU.

392: When she first became involved in the TE ANAU COMMUNITY BOARD, she says, the CHAIRPERSON was FRANA CARDNO, then BILL NEILSEN for two terms and then she was appointed to that position towards the end of her twelve year participation.

395: During her tenure, she says, the BOARD implemented a “revolutionary clarifier system” for storm water which goes directly into LAKE TE ANAU. The large clarifier was installed at the lakefront end of the main street in TE ANAU near the ANZAC MEMORIAL.

398: There was also the MILLENNIUM TREEPLANTING, she says, which saw the planting of 1300 trees around the INDUSTRIAL PARK to mark the turn of the century.

400: The ongoing LUXMORE SUBDIVISION and the LAKEFRONT DEVELOPMENT WALKWAY, she says were other initiatives as well as the development of the TE ANAU COMMUNITY CENTRE and the re-development of the FIORDLAND MEDICAL CENTRE.

404: “It’s a very, very progressive COMMUNITY BOARD…They’ve done some wonderful things in TE ANAU.”

409: Says the advantage of being a BOARD member is that “you have a voice”. Having listened to the electorate and discovered their concerns, it was a matter of trying to achieve the best value for their money (paid through local rates). Person recorded: Irene Barnes

418: Adds that it was also important to try to maintain a “comfortable” level for the local rates.

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010: Continuing the discussion about the local rates levy, she states the payment is divided between the district council level and local level. The latter, she continues, covers general services such as water and sewerage and maintenance of town services such as walkways.

019: At budget time, she says, the local council has to decide which improvements should be given priority in the coming year, such as allocating funds towards the community centre or a street upgrade.

037: Mentions that although the TE ANAU COMMUNITY BOARD had been making decisions about MANAPOURI for some years, latterly a sub-committee, the MANAPOURI COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AREA (MCDA) was formed and it decides spending allocations relevant to the smaller community.

060: Gives assurances, however, that even before the sub-committee was formed it was not the case that MANAPOURI ratepayers subsidised TE ANAU developments. “Occasionally it has been the reverse. They have made money available to help MANAPOURI because of the small community size.”

095: On retiring from the TE ANAU COMMUNITY BOARD, she says, she was elected on the MCDA, of which she is still a committee member.

103: “So I’ve had thirty years involvement with local government of one form or another.” But replies that the current term is her last mainly because of her age and so that younger, able people may be encouraged to take over.

124: Affirms that she played an active role in CLIFF’S CHARTER FISHING & TOUR business, FIORDLAND CRUISES LTD., which he ran for twenty-six years from 1975. Explains that as he often was away from home, she had more time on her hands to be involved in outside interests such as local politics.

134: Reflects that having spent twenty-five years following committees and governing boards on schools and colleges she was inspired to expand that interest into local government matters.

140: Mentions that one of the first sub-committees to which she was appointed was the WAIAU WORKING PARTY, which was set up to govern the use of water (from the CONTROL GATES into the WAIAU RIVER) for the HYDRO-POWER SCHEME. She is still a member of that committee.

147: Another organisation she has been part of is the GUARDIANS of the FIORDLAND FISHERIES, formed in 1995 in an effort to protect the fish stocks in rivers, fiords and surrounding seas of FIORDLAND.

149: Says she was approached by the CHARTER BOAT industry to represent them on the GUARDIANS. However, that is another role she has relinquished since the GUARDIANS became a government agency in 2005, believing that it had achieved its goal through the passing of legislation that governed FISHING rights in FIORDLAND and its coast.

163: Explains her involvement in FIORDLAND CRUISES LTD was to welcome their customers, organise the ship’s stores and all the accounts, and arrange other transportation requirements such as helicopters or floatplanes that delivered customers to their vessel, WAVERLEY, which was moored in DOUBTFUL SOUND.

184: Lists some of the part-time jobs she has held, including the already mentioned TEACHER’S AIDE work at MANAPOURI DISTRICT HIGH. When they first arrived in MANAPOURI, she says, she did some administration for the MANAPOURI DOUBTFUL SOUND TOURIST COMPANY. She also used to HOSTESS on its boats, bringing along their pre-school-age SON, CRAIG.

198: Referring back to the GUARDIANS of the FIORDLAND FISHERIES, she replies that the different groups connected with FISHING in that area were concerned about the diminishing stocks (due to over-FISHING). Mentions that one of the problems was the easy access to DOUBTFUL SOUND since the road was formed to DEEP COVE.

203: Explains that as a result, more recreational FISHING was occurring and with no limits imposed, the amount of FISH they could catch was often equivalent to COMMERCIAL FISHING. Yet, at the same time, there were COMMERCIAL FISHERMEN in the SOUNDS who were governed by a QUOTA (MANAGEMENT) SYSTEM (legislation introduced in 1986 to manage the commercial harvest in all NEW ZEALAND waters).

209: States that was the reason for setting up the GUARDIANS (in 1995) as well as the possibility that was raised at the time for a total ban on FISHING in the SOUNDS. That was seen, particularly by the CRAYFISHING INDUSTRY, to be detrimental because it was a major contributor to the local and national economy.

217: Various groups were represented on the organisation, she says, including recreational users, commercial users, the CHARTER BOAT INDUSTRY, IWI and government agencies. The GUARDIANS of FIORDLAND’S FISHERIES produced a document in 1999 which set out the reasons behind its formation. It stated in 1: INTRODUCTION – The group’s primary objective is to manage and conserve FIORDLAND’S fisheries resources for use and enjoyment of future generations.)

223: Describes it as a useful exercise because where there may have been suspicion between groups about their differing agendas, in the end they all came together with the aim of achieving a common goal. “It was a wonderful exercise to be involved in.”

228: Mentions that many of the organisations she has worked with have won the ENVIRONMENT SOUTHLAND’S ENVIRONMENTAL AWARD: the TE ANAU COMMUNITY BOARD (2001) for its STORM WATER FILTER and the WAIAU WORKING PARTY for its efforts. Similarly, the GUARDIANS of the FIORDLAND FISHERIES (2005), which also won the nationally-contested GREEN RIBBON AWARD from the MINISTRY of ENVIRONMENT (2005).

249: Now that the GUARDIANS have given way to a government appointed body, she says she has been able to relinquish her involvement in it and expects to step aside from the WAIAU WORKING PARTY once new regulations are established about the use of water from the river.

257: Says she plans to focus more on her GRANDCHILDREN and GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN by spending more time with them.

264: Discusses a more personal hobby – JOGGING – and says that although she used to be a regular contestant in the MANAPOURI-TE ANAU road race (which no longer is held), she nowadays RUNS on a daily basis over relatively shorter distances – about 4-5kms.

280: In addition, she says, she participates whenever possible in the MASTERS GAMES when she contests the SPRINT events on the track.

289: As for a future not lived in MANAPOURI, she does not see that as a possibility but admits that circumstances in the long-term may dictate it as she gets older.

317: While none of her FAMILY has followed in her footsteps by becoming involved in local politics, she considers it a useful exercise, adding that central government appears to be offloading more work onto local authorities, thereby forcing the latter to increase the RATES levy.

327: MANAPOURI, she believes will never grow the way that TE ANAU has in recent years mainly because there is not much extra land to develop, unless there was a change in ownership.

346: Alternatively she says TE ANAU will continue to grow and while TOURISM is its biggest industry, others will have to be brought in to sustain the expanding population.

356: Interview ends

Tape 2 Side B stops