Interviewee: Olive Doreen Hutchins

Date: 8 February 2005

Interviewer and abstracter: Morag Forrester

Tape counter: Sony TCM 393

Tape 1 Side A

007: Gives her full name as OLIVE DOREEN SIMPSON and that she was born in 1925 in hospital in INVERCARGILL.

013: States her FATHER was CHARLES HERBERT SIMPSON and her MOTHER was CLEMENTINA ELIZABETH neé FERGUSON.

019: Replies that her FATHER worked for WRIGHT STEPHENSONS (agricultural suppliers) at first, but later bought a small FARM at MYROSS BUSH not far from where her MOTHER’S family lived.

035: Says she had an older BROTHER (HERBERT) and SISTER (MARJORIE CLEMENTINA), both now deceased.

046: Mentions her FATHER died of CONSUMPTION (TUBERCULOSIS) when she was two years old and that her MOTHER who contracted the same illness was sent to a sanatorium in CENTRAL OTAGO and was there for two years.

051: Continues that she lived with an AUNT (EMMA COCHRANE) at HEDDEN BUSH who had three much older CHILDREN, still living at home.

070: Says when her MOTHER returned home, the FARM had been sold and the family went to live with her maternal GRANDPARENTS on their MYROSS BUSH property.

088: Her early education, she says, was at MYROSS BUSH SCHOOL which she attended from the age of five. Recalls having to walk about one-and-a-half miles to SCHOOL.

101: Describes her GRANDFATHER as “very approachable” while her GRANDMOTHER was “very deaf”. Adds that he was NEW ZEALAND-born while his wife had immigrated from the SHETLAND ISLES in SCOTLAND.

111: Comments that MYROSS BUSH was well-situated being only six miles from INVERCARGILL. Relates how initially, her GREAT GRANDFATHER (in the 1860s) had intended to buy land a few miles further from the town. But his plans were thwarted so he ended up with the nearer block.

140: States it totalled about 170 acres although is unable to say how much he paid for it.

165: MYROSS BUSH SCHOOL, she says, was a one-room building with one teacher for about 36 pupils. The curriculum was the regular schooling (3Rs). Comments that the advantage of one-room teaching was that once your own work was completed, you could listen in to what the other classes were being taught.

174: Lists the teachers she remembers as MISS STIRLING, MISS O’CONNOR, MR GARDNER and MR SQUIRES.

179: Replies that after SCHOOL, she mainly found her own amusement at home. Adds that with her GRANDPARENTS having two unmarried SONS, she didn’t have to work on the FARM.

191: Comments that SPORT was not an interest but she enjoyed READING and learned to play the piano. The music teacher, she says, would cycle out from INVERCARGILL to give lessons at home.

200: Recalls being 13 years old when she began attending (SOUTHLAND GIRLS) HIGH SCHOOL in INVERCARGILL. Says she cycled to school and back (although by FORMS 5 she was able to leave her bike at the railway station at MILL ROAD where she took the train to INVERCARGILL).

223: Affirms that the HIGH SCHOOL was run under strict rules and regulations “Always you weren’t allowed to be seen on the street without your gloves.” Describes the SCHOOL uniform as a navy blue gym frock, white blouse and a (navy) blazer with red braiding and a beret.

239: Academically, she says she opted for a “general” curriculum (later explains it included GEOMETRY and ALGEBRA, ENGLISH, BIOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY). “I wanted to be a schoolteacher.” Adds however that on leaving SCHOOL she worked in an office.

245: Mentions that there were SCHOOL sports, but she was unable to participate as an extra curricular activity because of having to cycle home. Adds that they played BASKETBALL and TENNIS. “We weren’t a sporting family anyway so it didn’t worry me.”

252: Replies that she made some “very good friends” at SCHOOL. Names DELCE GIBBS and ELEANOR KING as her two best friends. Mentions that she often stayed at the INVERCARGILL home of DELCE GIBBS at weekends.

281: It was when she had reached FORM 5, that her MOTHER suggested she ought to apply for an advertised job at H&J SMITH’S DEPARTMENT STORE (INVERCARGILL). “And so I did what I was told…you used to do what you were told.”

290: Comments that she had been “doing alright” at SCHOOL and was usually placed among the top five pupils of her class but says she was also quite happy to leave and start work.

299: States that the economic DEPRESSION of the 1930s and early 40s had little effect on her family and she therefore remembers little hardship during those years. Agrees that it was probably due to living on a FARM so that basic food supplies were available.

309: Recalls starting work in 1941, a couple of years after WWII had begun and remembers that a lot of boys from MYROSS BUSH went off to take part. Says there was one family that lost two sons.

318: Mentions that the AUCKLAND WEEKLY NEWS was published and during the war years it would contain photographs of NEW ZEALAND soldiers that were missing or had died in combat.

323: States her BROTHER (HERBERT) was involved in the war in the PACIFIC, fighting the JAPANESE.

327: Referring back to her job in the H&J’s office, recalls her first wage (as OFFICE JUNIOR) was 16s/5p per week. Remembers that she always planned to save up enough money to buy a gold bangle, but it wasn’t till she was MARRIED that she finally got one.

337: Says she worked in that office for seven years and that her wages increased commensurate with promotion so that she was earning £5/17s/6p per week by the time she got MARRIED. Adds that she and her colleagues called themselves “the twenty unclaimed treasures”.

348: Repeats that after about three years of working, she opted to leave home and at first boarded with a family in LIDDEL STREET, INVERCARGILL.

357: Social life, she says, was usually DANCES at ST MARY’S, the UFS, or a venue at MITCHELL ST. and that the women would dress up in their “best frocks”. Music was provided, she says, via piano and drums and possibly a saxophone.

375: Says she learned to DANCE at SCHOOL during the intervals when they would step to waltzes, fox-trots, CANADIAN SATISH, HIGHLAND SATISH (set dances), and the mazurka.

383: Affirms she went out on dates sometimes with men she met at the DANCES.

388: Recalls meeting her HUSBAND (LES HUTCHINS) at a UFS DANCE and that he was in his RNZAF uniform. Says it was in 1945, three years before they wed. Goes on to say they had a lot in common with similar interests such as TRAMPING and the OUTDOORS.

411: States they did not go on any big TRAMPING trips together before they were MARRIED, although they went to STEWART ISLAND once with another couple, staying at the FERNDALE HOTEL.

416: Recalls that it was also before they MARRIED that she first visited FIORDLAND with LES. They were accompanied by the same couple and travelled as far up the MILFORD ROAD to MILFORD SOUND as they could go.

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001: Continues discussing the trip mentioned in the last sentence and how they even had a look around MANAPOURI without ever thinking that one day they would end up living there. Later, she added, that on that trip they travelled via MANAPOURI as that was where LES’ mother had lived (on MANAPOURI STATION). LES and OLIVE, she said, stood on the very ground which, unbeknownst to them in the 1940s, was to be the site of their own home in 1954.

008: Adds they travelled as far as CASCADE (CREEK) before returning to TE ANAU where they had to stay the night with friends because of a vehicle breakdown.

020: On her MARRIAGE to LES, says that he had not approached her MOTHER first (for permission to get ENGAGED) probably because they had already been courting for eighteen months.

030: States that he “never really asked me to marry him, I don’t think. He just popped the ring on my finger.” Says she can’t remember the details of the moment “but I know I was tickled pink”.

045: Explains though that they had already bought a two-acre section of land together in OTATARA so they already knew they were going to get MARRIED.

050: Disturbance from a light aircraft interrupts the discussion.

070: Says they chose OTATARA partly because LES’ BROTHER already had a place there.

076: Tape stopped and started following more disturbance from the aircraft and a telephone interruption.

078: Describes her wedding dress as made of CHANTILLY lace with a train and trimmed with GEORGETTE. Her bridesmaids were DOROTHY GAMBLE and EUNICE CHAMBERS (neé GIBSON) and they wore aqua-blue GEORGETTE with a shawl across the shoulders.

092: The groomsmen were BRUCE CHAMBERS and IAN FREDERIC. Adds that about 100 people attended the wedding (at the FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, INVERCARGILL) with the reception at ELMWOOD GARDENS. For their honeymoon, she says, they went to DUNEDIN, NELSON and across to WELLINGTON.

107: After they returned to INVERCARGILL, LES went back to work at HUTCHINS FURNITURE WAREHOUSE but she did not go back to her office job. “In those days you didn’t go back to work.”

111: Replies there was plenty to do around the section upon which they had already put a house, which LES and a carpenter had remodelled. Also states that it was only a few months later that she became pregnant with their first CHILD, BRYAN, who was born in AUGUST 1949.

124: States that at the age of 23, she did not feel the need to seek assistance or advice about caring for the new baby, despite living some distance from her MOTHER. “It was no problem.”

132: Recalls BRYAN was born at a private nursing home – run by NURSE PERKINS and that LES did not attend the birth. “They (the FATHERS) didn’t in those days, thank goodness. Not ever.”

144: However, as the family grew (five CHILDREN in total) she affirms that LES did help out with some of the practical aspects babies require such as nappy changing.

147: Mentions that after they moved to MANAPOURI a local girl was hired to help out during the school holidays after the last CHILD (GRAEME) was born (in 1959).

161: Tape stopped and started following telephone interruption.

[Before their move north, LES had been involved in a business partnership with another former RNZAF pilot, BILL HEWETT of MOSSBURN. They launched Aerial Fertilisers Ltd – a topdressing company, but it was short-lived.]

164: Comments that at the time he’d formed the partnership, she had some concerns. “It’s quite a dangerous caper – aerial fertilizing – so I was quite happy when he pulled out.”

179: Recalls that she was not overjoyed either about LES’ decision to buy the late LES MURRELL’S launch and tourism business at MANAPOURI in 1954. “I felt I was going to be buried in the sticks (laughs).”

190: Considers that her HUSBAND would probably not have accepted a negative response from her about his decision to buy the business and recalls she did not offer any encouragement as she couldn’t see the point of giving up the successful FURNITURE business in INVERCARGILL (which continued to be run by LES’ BROTHER).

197: “You know, in those days, it was always what the HUSBAND wanted to do that you did in the end.” Adds that it was LES who was the adventurous one of the two whereas she was happy bringing up the CHILDREN.

214: In 1954, when they shifted to MANAPOURI, she says the only other permanent dwellers of the village were the MURRELLS who ran (GRANDVIEW GUESTHOUSE), the LINDSAYS who ran the local store, and the MILNES on the nearest FARM (FREESTONE).

222: Apart from that, she says, there were the weekenders who came from other areas in SOUTHLAND (and OTAGO) and that many of them were FARMERS.

227: Their first home in MANAPOURI was a rented property where she and the CHILDREN spent the summer while their own home was being built. She recalls how the roof leaked and describes pinning the ceiling with a big plastic tablecloth to divert rainwater into the sink.

251: Mentions that a builder, CES FLAUS constructed the new house which didn’t take long to complete (they moved in before CHRISTMAS 1955) on an elevated site overlooking the lakefront, for which they paid about £185. Person recorded: Olive Hutchins

271: Explains that ELECTRICITY (in the rented property) was provided by generator but that it was only very limited; enough to provide lighting. Cooking, she says, was done on a COAL RANGE.

281: Recalls that at the new house, ELECTRICITY was generated by WINDMILL although at first it was installed on the roof, which proved hazardous as the vibrations would rattle the dishes in the cupboards.

287: Goes on to say that to fix the problem, LES bought a seven-foot stand or tower upon which the WINDMILL could be placed. Says thereafter the WINDMILL worked very well as a means of charging the batteries for lighting.

299: Mentions they had a TELEPHONE and the EXCHANGE was based at the (GRANDVIEW) GUESTHOUSE, connected to TE ANAU by manuka poles “stuck in the ground”. Affirms it was a PARTY-LINE network and that each household with a telephone had its own signal.

312: Also recalls that the roads were not tar-sealed so, for example, it took half-an-hour to reach TE ANAU instead of the present 15 minutes.

317: For groceries and other supplies, she says there was RADFORDS STORE in TE ANAU (on the corner of MCKERROW ST and LAKEFRONT DRIVE) and LINDSAY’S log cabin store in MANAPOURI. However, she says, whenever they visited INVERCARGILL they would stock up with supplies.

329: Replies that in the early years of the MANAPOURI-DOUBTFUL SOUND TOURIST CO, she was not involved in operating any part of the business.

339: However, she remembers meeting their tourists because they had to first call at the house to pick up their prepared TRACK PACKS. Comments that on their return from the three-day trek, they would be a lot less tidy in appearance but “they were always happy…they’d come out with their eyes shining”.

345: Explains what the trip involved starting with the tourists picking up their PACKS until the evening of their fourth day when they’d completed the walk.

356: States that the company employed staff at the HOSTEL at DEEP COVE (COOK and GUIDE). Explains that the SKIPPER of the PILGRIM (one of the vessels which formed part of the previous owner’s business chattels) would provide morning tea at the start of the TRACK before guiding them about halfway. They would then be met by another GUIDE and a party of walkers making their way back out.

371: Gives some examples of the comments people made at the end of the trip, often praising the COOK or the GUIDE. Adds that the first workers they employed were RON (PAULIN), GEORGE (HOWARD) and GREENIE, the COOK, who they had to replace. It was at that stage, she recalls, that ANNE MACKENZIE joined the company “she was just marvellous”.

386: On those first years of the business, she says things were “very difficult” but that despite what he’d written in his book, LES would never have given up on it. Mentions they still had HUTCHINS FURNITURE WAREHOUSE, managed by LES’ BROTHER and business partner, which kept them solvent.

396: States that in the first two years, the new business ran at a loss, the third year showed a profit but in the fourth year it was running at a loss again “but we didn’t look back after that”.

401: Considers that had it not been for the MANAPOURI HYDRO POWER SCHEME at DOUBTFUL SOUND then the business might never have become profitable. Construction work on the huge government-funded SCHEME, which created the first TAILRACE TUNNEL at the SOUND, began in the early 1960s.

405: Recalls that they had by then bought the rival company, SEA PRINCE LAKE SERVICE. on LAKE MANAPOURI. In addition, she says, they purchased a FISHING boat in a bid to keep their workers employed through the winter months. But the vessel sank after hitting a rock in a storm, although there was no loss of life.

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002: Continues discussion begun at the end of the previous tape about the relationship between rival launch operators in MANAPOURI in the early days.

010: Tape stopped and restarted.

Discussion resumes with reference to the purchase of the FIORDLAND TRAVEL COMPANY in 1966. It had been set up by LAWSON BURROWS, WILSON CAMPBELL and ROBBIE ROBB in 1948 following the re-discovery of the TE ANAU GLOW-WORM CAVES. The details of the purchase by the MANAPOURI DOUBTFUL SOUND TOURIST COMPANY are outlined in LES’ book (Chapter 18). Soon afterwards, the HUTCHINS renamed their business FIORDLAND TRAVEL LTD.

016: Considers the decision to take on the TE ANAU company was a sound move. Person recorded: Olive Hutchins

050: Returning to the MANAPOURI HYDRO POWER SCHEME explains why she made the earlier comment that it helped put the business on its feet. Mentions the first of the FIORDLANDER fleet was built to carry the workers across LAKE MANAPOURI to the constructions site.

073: Comments that one of LES’ attributes was his ability to “see into the future” and was therefore prepared for the next opportunity.

091: Recalls the HYDRO POWER project started in 1964 and that the government paid them compensation for taking over the TRACK and the HOSTEL at DEEP COVE which it required for its workers. With that money, she says, they were able to build the FIORDLANDER.

110: Referring back to the purchase of the FIORDLAND TRAVEL COMPANY in 1966, she says the government had approached the HUTCHINS about establishing a launch service to carry passengers to the start of the MILFORD TRACK from TE ANAU. This service had previously been provided by FIORDLAND TRAVEL.

115: Not long afterwards, she says, LAWSON BURROWS came up with an offer to sell them FIORDLAND TRAVEL and that his two other partners agreed to the sale.

[The HUTCHINS were at the forefront of the SAVE MANAPOURI CAMPAIGN after it was revealed that the government planned to raise the lake levels of both LAKE MANAPOURI (by 100ft) and LAKE TE ANAU (by 12ft) for the HYDRO POWER SCHEME. To support their case against the proposal, they offered free trips down the WAIAU RIVER to LAKE MONOWAI – part of which had been raised for its DAM PROJECT constructed some years before. Again, in his book, MAKING WAVES, LES detailed the damaging effects of such a move both on the environment and the tourism industry which the government had initiated in the area at the turn of the 20th century.]

133: Describes LAKE MONOWAI then looked like a forest that had been flooded with dead tree stumps around its shores. “It was shocking.”

142: Admits it was a long campaign they had become involved in and suggests that the only reason they won was due to a change of central government following a general election in 1972.

149: Adds that they may not have won the campaign had it not been for the incoming LABOUR government’s (led by NORMAN KIRK) electoral promise not to raise the lake levels.

151: Considers that the issue cost the NATIONAL PARTY because she was told by many of people who would normally have voted NATIONAL that they had opted instead for LABOUR.

160: Tape stopped and restarted

[The discussion moves on to the early 1970s when FIORDLAND TRAVEL took on the TOURIST HOTEL CORPORATION at MILFORD SOUND by offering a rival hostess service to the government-run monopoly. Again the details surrounding this next business move are outlined in MAKING WAVES (Chapter 20).]

170: Mentions that in 1966 when the government wanted them to take over the LAKE TE ANAU-GLADE HOUSE run, LES had also been given approval to take over the government launch service on MILFORD SOUND.

179: Says the agreement with (A.M.) SATTERTHWAITE was later retracted “because there was nothing in black and white” [In his book, LES, states that the agreement had been in the form of a letter, which the authorities had argued was not a binding legal document].

187: Continues that LES did not accept the retraction and decided to put one of his own vessels on MILFORD SOUND, “that’s why we went in”.

192: Admits she was concerned about his decision. Then recalls the events that “forced our hand” and says it was the coach company, TRANS TOURS, which had approached them about setting up a hostess launch service and provide lunches.

203: Mentions that FIORDLAND TRAVEL had already been providing a similar service for TRANS TOURS on LAKE MANAPOURI.

226: Recalls they got a lot of support from the fishermen who also anchored at FRESHWATER BASIN on MILFORD SOUND partly because of their opposition to the way the THC ran its TOURISM operations there.

232: The NEW YEAR immediately after the CHRISTMAS DAY that they’d anchored the FRIENDSHIP in the BASIN she says there were 74 fishing boats sitting alongside.

252: States that although the CHILDREN were in the middle of all the activity, she does not think they were aware of the politics involved.

258: Explains the reason for changing the company’s name, first to FIORDLAND TRAVEL in 1966 and more recently to REAL JOURNEYS. The latter, she says, because the business now reaches further than FIORDLAND and the new name brands it as a sight-seeing operator not a travel agency.

264: “I know most people are horrified at us changing it, but I like it…I think it was a very good move.”

267: Refers to the decision, in 1969, to purchase the TSS EARNSLAW. Says the government had approached them to takeover running the vessel two years earlier.

270: “We couldn’t…we were too tied up with the (HYDRO POWER) SCHEME and LES couldn’t really cope with it (the takeover), which is a wonder knowing LES.”

[The government-run service was initially set up in 1912 as a carrier service for the remote sheep and cattle stations around LAKE WAKATIPU. It carted livestock and goods, as well as passengers, between QUEENSTOWN and GLENORCHY and the railhead at KINGSTON. For several years it had been running at a loss, which was the main reason for the government’s offer to FIORDLAND TRAVEL LTD. The EARNSLAW was operating in 1968 under a group of young businessmen.]

273: Suggests that the consortium did not know enough about boats so that instead of improving the EARNSLAW’S financial difficulties, it was beset by increasing debt. Says the government approached FIORDLAND TRAVEL a second time to takeover the service.

276: “Once again, we were the big bad wolves… the QUEENSTOWN people thought we had taken over and sort of pushed the boys out. But we didn’t. We took over their debts, so they went out SCOT-free. They didn’t make anything, but they didn’t lose anything.”

284: States that a vessel such as the EARNSLAW requires extensive maintenance adding that the government had been running the service at a $48,000 – [see reference in MAKING WAVES Pg 149 in which it states the government loss on the service for the year 1967-68 was $43,000].

289: Recalls that when FIORDLAND TRAVEL took it over in 1969, in the first year it posted a $36,000 loss, which decreased the following year and by the third year, she says, it broke even.

300: On the company’s continued expansion with more vessels, additional services such as scenic flights to MILFORD SOUND, and upgraded coaches, she reflects about its overall business philosophy. “They always say you’ve got to grow or you go backwards. I don’t know if I agree with that….I think you can grow by bettering your services…I don’t think you have to expand”…adding later “unless the challenge presents itself”.

305: Implies that many of the business decisions they made over the years were reactive in that they were approached by the government to takeover passenger services in QUEESTOWN, not vice versa. More recently, she says, a similar situation has arisen on STEWART ISLAND with the ferry service operator there, adding that it approached REAL JOURNEYS with an offer to buy it out.

315: On their eldest son, BRYAN, joining the company in 1974, replies it was an unexpected move.

321: Recalls that following his OE (overseas work/holiday experience), BRYAN had asked if he could work for the company while he pondered his next career move, so he began as skipper on the boats at MANAPOURI.

325: Adds that when the job of MANAGER at MANAPOURI became vacant, he applied and went on from there.

327: Comments that it was “not easy” for FATHER and SON especially after LES retired and BRYAN took over as MANAGING DIRECTOR. Explains it was particularly difficult for LES, still living at MANAPOURI and having to step back.

335: Of their other CHILDREN, says GRAEME did an apprenticeship as a FITTER-TURNER, so they had though he would eventually oversee the maintenance work of the business. However, she says, he preferred working with wood and later on moved away from the area.

344: Recalls that in the earlier years she acted as a sounding board for LES prior to the establishment of a BOARD of DIRECTORS in the mid-1970s.

350: Affirms that she would sometimes influence LES’ business decisions. “But mainly his own instincts were right, even if I didn’t agree with him at the time.”

359: Replies that she would never have expected the company to have developed into one of the most successful tourist operators in NEW ZEALAND in 2005. “I think that was the secret of his (LES’) success…that he could see into the future.”

367: Does not see herself in the role of the strong woman behind the powerful/successful man. “I think I’ve become a lot stronger in the last 25 years, but before that I just followed on.”

373: Says she does not consider herself a good business woman, but that she too has “certain instincts that work”.

377: Is hopeful that REAL JOURNEYS will continue to operate as a family firm, although she admits that her none of her twelve GRANDCHILDREN has yet shown an interest in taking up the cudgel.

383: “I would like to see one of them carry on through…as long as he’s capable of doing it ’cos it wouldn’t be easy.” Adds that she would also hope one or two of them would eventually join the BOARD of DIRECTORS.

396: On the social and community events that she and LES took part in while they lived at MANAPOURI, says they both played GOLF, although “I wasn’t all that keen”. Adds she was a member of the WOMEN’S DIVISION (of FEDERATED FARMERS) and the PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in TE ANAU.

403: LES, she continues, was not a committee man but he joined the LIONS CLUB under the proviso that it took third place behind his wife and family first and business second.

408: Replies that if there were any dances or social evenings they would go along to those which were usually held in TE ANAU. Otherwise, she would put on parties at home.

412: While she reflects that MANAPOURI was a good place to live, she considers it was also good for the CHILDREN to be sent away to BOARDING SCHOOL for their secondary education.

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004: Continuing on the theme of the CHILDREN’S education, says at first they attended TE ANAU (PRIMARY) SCHOOL and later the MANAPOURI HYDRO VILLAGE SCHOOL.

009: Replies that GRAEME went to JAMES HARGEST SCHOOL in INVERCARGILL and that SHONA went to COLUMBA COLLEGE, DUNEDIN.

017: While BRYAN went on to tertiary education at UNIVERSITY, she says none of the GIRLS took that path.

026: States that ROBYNNE (the eldest DAUGHTER) opted to study as medical technician in the PATHOLOGY DEPARTMENT at KEW hospital, in INVERCARGILL. SHONA, she adds became a NURSE while JOCELYN (the youngest DAUGHTER) took up SECRETARIAL studies (shorthand and typing).

038: Considers none of the GIRLS were career-minded adding that SHONA has not worked since she MARRIED her husband, KEITH, an eye surgeon in WELLINGTON. They have four children and own a farm. Adds that ROBYNNE and her husband, RON, have a LODGE (TOURIST business) while JOCELYN worked until she and her HUSBAND had their first CHILD. Says they now own MITRE 10 (hardware store) in TE ANAU.

051: Says she had not expected any of her CHILDREN to stay in the TE ANAU BASIN (three of them have brought up their own families in the area). GRAEME, she says, lives in the NELSON area while SHONA lives in WELLINGTON.

082: Of the people she would always link with MANAPOURI and TE ANAU, again mentions GLORIA LINDSAY who ran the store in the village.

093: Also mentions KATH SHAW who lived near the HUTCHINS house.

098: “There were a few remarkable people and a few odd people too (laughs).”

106: Says they left MANAPOURI (in the 1980s, they followed a new pursuit – YACHTING – and sailed around NEW ZEALAND and the PACIFIC ISLANDS) but still kept their house.

115: Sailing was a joy, she says “I loved it”, adding that the longest time they were at sea was when they went from MILFORD SOUND to FIJI on their ocean-going vessel, the SHAYLENE.

124: The next time they went some distance, she says, was when they joined the AUCKLAND to SUVA YACHT RACE. Without intending to take part, she continues, they ended up in seventh place in their class. “But we went for the company.”

137: Recalls they had a house built in the BAY OF ISLANDS as a place to possibly retire but “we didn’t ever really live there”.

144: When they finally sold their house in MANAPOURI, they shifted to ALEXANDRA for about three years until they decided to move again to QUEENSTOWN where she had lived for ten years. “This was our last move.”

153: Explains that living in QUEENSTOWN, LES felt they were more accessible to family and friends than they had been in ALEXANDRA.

159: Considers that he also felt more in touch with the TOURISM industry, something he had missed.

171: On the award of an OBE (Order of the British Empire) to LES for services to TOURISM, replies that when they were first notified about it “we both were amazed, absolutely amazed”.

174: Adds they were even more astounded when he was awarded a DCNZM (the equivalent of a knighthood). “My first thought was thank goodness they don’t call them ‘Sir’ and ‘Lady’ but later on, (for LES), I was sorry because it’s a nine-day wonder.”

180: Says she thinks LES deserved both commendations, particularly for his contribution to CONSERVATION, not so much building up a successful business.

200: “If it wasn’t for his love for the bush and FIORDLAND we’d’ve still been in the FURNITURE business.”

256: More than a year after her husband’s death in December 2003, she reflects on her years spent by his side. “I look back and I think what an amazing life he had and I also think…what an amazing life I’ve had because of him. And I think our CHILDREN are all really good citizens…they all work towards the betterment of the place they live in, which I think’s important.”

Interview closes

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