Reflections on the glistening peak

Aspiring has loomed large in the life of some, becoming almost a member of the family.

• Triumph and tragedy for climbers
  
• Century since Aspiring ascent

Phyllis Aspinall (87) spent 27 years living at the foot of Mt Aspiring, supporting her farmer husband Jerry and raising their four children.

By 1955, she needed "an out" and leapt at the chance to write for a Radio 4YA's women's programme.

"After a few years [of writing] the station became nationalised and I had to stop. They said women in Auckland didn't want to know what Central Otago women were doing. I thought `The poor things'," she said.

Despite the abrupt end to her career as a radio correspondent, Mrs Aspinall did not give up her passion for writing and completed several articles and stories for publication in books and journals.

But her life on the isolated station was a far cry from her earlier plans to teach music.

Mrs Aspinall (nee Manson) was raised in Dunedin and from an early age loved music, art and embroidery.

Her plans for life in the city changed when her family moved to Wanaka and she met her husband-to-be Jerry Aspinall.

Her early station experience was isolated but was nothing like that of the pioneering Mrs Duncan Macpherson, who unfortunately drowned in the Matukituki River.

Mrs Macpherson's deeds have been documented in history books but not, it seems, her first name.

Mrs Macpherson was said to have once gone for two years without a conversation with another woman, Mrs Aspinall said.

When Mrs Aspinall arrived, 50 years ago, the track to the farm was still very rough.

"The road to Cattle Flat wasn't too bad. From then on, it was hazardous and interesting. I used to wonder why there were three wheel marks and then realised they chose the best of them . . .

"We would have periods of two to three months where I only had men for company," Mrs Aspinall recalled.

But the family did not go long without company in summer.

If they were not in town to visit friends, their friends were visiting them.

Groups of trampers and climbers were also made welcome and became valued friends.

But for young children, visitors could be an unsettling experience.

She recalled her first-born, John, at the age of 3, screaming at unexpected visitors "as if they were wolves".

The Aspinall family's contribution to New Zealand Alpine Club endeavours has been immense.

They've helped build huts, provided search and rescue support, given farm access and made countless cups of tea for people over the years.

Mrs Aspinall's husband Jerry and three of her children have now climbed to the summit, which used to be part of the farm.

"Jerry went first. Then Christopher was next. Then Julia. I was on tenterhooks when she went. She tried it three times before she achieved it.

"When John did it, he was down before I knew it. I hadn't paid proper attention to the fact he was going. William is the only one who hasn't done it. He doesn't want to," Mrs Aspinall said.