Air pioneers remembered

More than 300 people gathered at Haast on Saturday, to take a trip down memory lane at the 75th airline anniversary.

Torrential rain did not dampen the enthusiasm of 95-year-old Marie Lindsay, of Christchurch, the daughter of pioneering pilot Bert Mercer, who started New Zealand's first commercial passenger and airmail service on December 18, 1934.

Haast matriarch Betty Eggeling (89) unveiled a plaque with Mrs Lindsay.

All New Zealand airlines can trace their beginnings to Mercer's Air Travel.

The service's first route between Hokitika and Haast eventually expanded to other destinations and the service went under several names, including National Airways Corporation (NAC) and West Coast Airways.

Passenger service to Haast ended in 1967, soon after the Haast highway was opened, and people began to drive to Hokitika or Wanaka.

The air service used Fox Moth and de Havilland aircraft and was a major factor in reducing the isolation of the Haast community.

Mrs Lindsay was 20 when her father began the service and said she very much admired his pioneering spirit.

Mrs Eggeling said the service was fantastic for the women who left the community to have their children in other towns where there was medical care and then flew home with their babies.

Captain Mercer would try to chose a route that did not make the babies' ears "pop", she said.

There was standing room only in the Department of Conservation's auditorium, for the celebrations on Saturday afternoon.

Canterbury conservator Mike Slater, West Coast MP Chris Auchinvole, and Haast resident Kerry Eggeling were among those who spoke about the significance of the airline to Haast and the country.

"Let's remember it started here on the West Coast.

And it started on the Coast because the Coast had a need," Mr Auchinvole said.

He read a message from Prime Minister and Tourism Minister John Key and recalled his own grandmother warning others to lock their doors when the Haast highway was completed.

"She said `Strangers will be coming through'.

Well, thank goodness they did.

And they continue to come through to this day," he said.

While there was no longer a passenger air service, aviation had an important role in the tourism industry, he said.

Haast resident Kerry Eggeling said before the airmail service, mail came by horse or boat.

The first flight landed at Mussel Point, but it was not long before the Cron and Nolan families had built landing strips on their properties, as well.

The present airstrip was built in 1942, in case long-range aircraft needed to use it during World War 2.

A recent working bee to revamp the airstrip and aerodrome building showed the same community spirit was very much alive.

The vintage Fox Moth and de Havilland aircraft could not fly on Saturday but conditions improved yesterday, enabling them to take to the air.

Auckland aviation writer Rev Richard Waugh's book Hoki to Haast was launched at Haast on Saturday night.

Nelson historian Graeme Connell assisted Mr Waugh with the publication and designed the plaque that sits outside the Department of Conservation's visitor information centre at Haast.