"This Is New Zealand" (Fourth Series). This series of yarns, written and candidly narrated by Jim Henderson, focuses on the people, places and curiosities of Southland. Episode 3. In this episode, Henderson discusses his trip to Milford Sound.
He begins by noting comments by Leonard Airey in a visitor's book about his pride in being a New Zealander.
Jim Henderson describes making the drive to Milford with Bob Steele and Margaret Branford of the Southland Automobile Association, plus Robin Anderson of Southland Girls' High School - all in the Automobile Association's small yellow truck.
He describes the imposing landscape and the Homer Tunnel and the history of its contstruction during the Depression, costing the lives of three men in an avalanche.
At Milford Sound he describes the Southland Automobile Association hostel and the new expensive tourist hotel. Three married couples run the hostel which looked after 4,000 guests last season. They are the manager Mrs and Mrs Doug Wright of Birdling's Flat; Mr and Mrs Nobby deLautour who ran the telephone exchange at Timaru and Mr and Mrs Jock Wallace, who have a farm at Wright's Bush, Southland.
Jim Henderson describes how the hostel was constructed by AA members and how it is operated in its remote location. Two launches operate on the Sound: launchmasters are Graham Haytor of Nelson and Picton and Jim Aitken of Portobello, Dunedin. They carried 15,000 tourists last season.