New Zealand Memories Issue 151

FEATURE
Building New Zealand’s
Most Scenic Highway
Gordon Campbell
The construction of a road through Fiordland’s rugged terrain opened up one of
New Zealand’s scenic gems to visitors from around the world.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington NZ. Ref; 1/2-009020-F
Have you ever travelled the road to
Milford Sound? Did you give a thought
to the workers who built the road and
the Homer Tunnel? The opening of this
route is the result of hard work and sacrifice, by men
living and working in a geographically and socially
challenging environment.
The majesty and grandeur of Milford Sound has
attracted tourists since the late 1800s. It was initially
accessible only by sea. The discovery of McKinnon
Pass, by explorer Quintin McKinnon, led to the
opening of a walking track. McKinnon marketed the
area and guided parties along the 53 kilometre track,
from the head of Lake Te Anau, to Milford Sound. In
1890, Donald Sutherland, who had lived an almost
hermit-like lifestyle at the head of the Sound, opened
a hotel to accommodate the steady stream of tourists
who walked the track. Milford Sound’s reputation as a
tourist destination grew, and the government quickly
saw the tourism potential of this unique region. In
1901, the Government Tourist Bureau took over the
management of the walking tours along the track, and
established tour boats on the Sound itself. Milford
Sound’s increasing popularity led to pressure for road
access, originally intended to run from Lake Wakatipu
through the Greenstone valley to the Hollyford
valley. The Upper Hollyford valley ends at the Homer
Saddle, named after its discoverer, William Homer.
Homer promoted the idea for a tunnel, large enough
to accommodate a horseback rider, to pass beneath the
saddle and link the Hollyford valley, to the Cleddau
valley, which ran down to Milford Sound.
In the late 1920s it was decided to construct the
road from Te Anau via the Eglinton valley. Work
was organised by the Labour Department as a Public
Works Department project, set up to provide relief
work for the unemployed during the Depression. The
pay was meagre, but as an incentive, the workers on
these PWD relief schemes formed work gangs which
were contracted for sections of work, paid for on a
piecework basis. On good weeks, this system enabled
the workers to earn more than the standard 1/6d (15
cents) per hour that was paid to general labourers at
the time. However, these workers were required to pay
for their own fares to get to and from the work site,
as well as the cost of their electricity, coal and wood
fuel. These, together with canteen and store purchases,
were all deducted from their pay. If wet weather meant
work had to stop, then the men didn’t get paid. The
work consisted mainly of digging spoil out with picks
and shovels and wheelbarrowing it to form the road.
Extra barrows ensured there was no standing around
waiting for a barrow to be filled. It was heavy physical
work, six days a week. As the road progressed up the
Eglinton valley, tall beech trees were cut down with
crosscut saws, the trunks winched aside and stumps
blasted out. The trunks were milled, initially using
saw pits, but later sawmills, and the timber was used
to build bridges.
One of the most challenging sections of the road
was the descent from The Divide, at the head of the
Eglinton valley, to the Hollyford valley below. This
three-kilometre stretch had to be carved into the bluffs
of the steep valley wall. The workers drilled holes into
the rocks with sharp steel spikes and used dynamite
to blast a route. The blast debris was wheeled away in
barrows.
Work camps were set up at intervals along the route.
A large camp, called Marian Camp, was built where
the Lower Hollyford valley meets the Upper Hollyford
valley. The camp consisted of tent huts, a butcher’s
shop, bakehouse, cookhouse, Post Office, first aid
room, workshop and YMCA hut for recreation. This
was the main camp until Homer Camp, which also had
a bathhouse and a school, was built once construction
work began on the tunnel. The workers’ huts were very
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