BROOK SABIN
There is a part of New Zealand so remote, humans have never touched the vast majority of its enormous landscape. And here s how you can explore it.
Kiwis have certainly been doing their duty since the nationwide lockdown ended in backing tourism operators in their backyard, but some regions are still doing it tough. Beaches and lakes within a three-hour drive of our biggest cities have fared the best over summer, with the Coromandel and Tasman District proving particularly busy, Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Chris Roberts said. Areas further afield which relied heavily on overseas visitors before borders closed are struggling, however, with the likes of Queenstown, Fiordland and Westland unusually quiet over the Christmas-New Year period, he said.
A Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Dr Gerry McSweeney and Anne Saunders established their Wilderness Lodges in 1989 (Lake Moeraki) and 1996 (Arthur’s Pass) to show that conservation is everyone’s business and can make a major contribution to the economy.
Hāwea holiday-maker Dr Gerry McSweeney has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to conservation as part of the 2021 New Year s Honours.
The environmentalist runs the Wilderness Lodges at Lake Moeraki (30 km north of Haast) and Arthur’s Pass with wife Anne Saunders, with whom he hopes to one day retire to his family home in Hāwea.