My book Island Ferry, Mystery of the Rakaia Gorge, was printed on Friday.
I have always had a curiosity for the Upper Rakaia Ferry, so during Covid to keep busy I started my research.
There have been many books written on Methven and Windwhistle history, but nothing between the two districts, the gorge and the ferry, its people, stock movement, activities that made it work.
Just how did it all fit together from 1852 to 1882, 30 years before the iron bridge was opened?
I have recorded through photos, maps, sketches using high quality paper and early newspaper reports events as they happened.
Researching early pastoral run journals, local museums as far as Auckland and the London Museum for information, I initially ended up with 48 chapters, too much for one book.
Island Ferry, Mystery of the Rakaia Gorge is 19 chapters packed full of local information, taming the Rakaia, pioneer stories that will fascinate the reader, covering the first 100 years of the gorge.
It includes the history of the bridges, Mount Hutt Run and the dairy factory, accommodation houses, Ferry Inn, World War 2 home guard defence and much more.
What drove me as a local?
I didnât know any of this history and I am sure many people will enjoy this research.
There is a great story of assistant surveyor Charles Torlesse and Johnny and their pack donkeys travelling the exposed windswept tussockcovered upper plains in 1849.
They were the first Europeans to travel inland on both sides of the Rakaia River.
This research project has been rewarding.
I believe understanding the past allows us to progress into the future.
This is as true today as it was then, people are New Zealandâs greatest assets.
– Island Ferry, Mystery of the Rakaia Gorge by Allan Lill. Caxton Print, 263 pages, $70. Available from Mount Hutt Lodge Rakaia Gorge, Ruralco Methven (cash sales). Profits to Methven Care Trust.
