The Heart Of Fiordland

This is a really interesting book that describes what is now a part of history in south western New Zealand.
Fiordland is a National park area, which was - and remains, hard to access and therefore relatively unscathed by mass tourism. Small scale tourism in Fiordland is successful, and it is an amazing place to visit, so reading the history of the humble beginnings of the access to this remote place is fascinating.

First published in 1966, you get the feeling that Howard might have jumped the gun a little. The last third of his book explains the construction of what was as the time, (and is probably still in the top 5) the largest civil engineering projects in New Zealand - the Manapouri Power Station.
The second edition, published in 1969 includes a new introduction, and I suspect a couple of chapters at the end - as they mention events occurring in the years between 1966 and 1969.

The first section of the books describes what was almost the first guided tourism into Doubtful Sound, in 1954. Employed to re-cut the track, and refurbish a hut to turn it into a hostel, the author and two other men headed into the depths of Fiordland. Staying on and guiding the many tourists who made the trek, Howard spent a number of years running the operation. He weaves a good story, and goes on to describe a vast array of situations and tales.

After the author left Doubtful Sound he became involved in the exploration and pre-planning for the Manapouri Hydro-Electric Power Station. Various investigative bores and geological tests were undertaken as a part of the feasibility, and Howard was involved in the early stages - and who better with such a knowledge of the area. After the initial stages, he stayed on, and was joined by his family where he played a sort of caretaker role as the project stalled momentum while the original instigators, an Australian mining company weighed up the information and determined whether to proceed.

The New Zealand government ended up taking over the project, and gave the formal go ahead to construct the tailrace and Wilmot Pass road in 1963. The scale of engineering and the complexity of the setting make the Manapouri story a really interesting one.

I did find however that as Howard transitions the book from centring around his exploits in Doubtful Sound and his involvement in the power station to the time where he tendered his resignation and moves from the West Arm, it felt like the author was just trying to wrap up the book. The story of Fiordland wouldn't be complete without the story of the power station, and as I alluded to earlier - it was still under construction when the book was published (and was still not operational when the second edition was published).

Personally I think the book would have been stronger to have included a fuller ‘completion' of the hydro scheme, but I acknowledge at the time it would have been hard to ‘sit on' the book and await events the author wasn't intimately involved in to play out before publishing.

Nevertheless, a very good read on the pre-power station situation in Doubtful Sound, and Fiordland in general.