Despite the setback, they plan to erect a large wardrobe at the entrance to the walking track so visitors can step through it and into a landscape reminiscent of the world of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Kim Murtagh, who prefers to be known as Dusty, the guardian of Wetherstons' daffodil fields, approached the C. S. Lewis Trust, which holds the rights to the name Narnia and other names penned by the author.
The area around the fields at Wetherstons has been slowly cleared of scrub and gorse and as Ms Murtagh, Craig Morrison and others involved made their way through the area, they felt they had found a little piece of Narnia in South Otago.
But the C. S. Lewis Trust did not share their enthusiasm and quashed hopes Ms Murtagh had of crowning the area New Zealand's own Narnia.
However, the trust did not count on the determined guardian of the daffodil fields, who has plans of her own to promote the area as some forgotten world come to life from the pages of the Irish author.
"We can't call it Narnia but we are still going to have a giant wardrobe at the entrance so people have to go through it, just like in the book," she said.
A large oak wardrobe is being prepared for its new role. Borer is being dealt to and water-proofing will also be carried out before it is placed at the track's entrance in early September to coincide with the emergence of the area's sprawling daffodil fields in the spring.
Mr Morrison, who was previously employed through a Otago Community Trust grant to help clear the area, has stayed on in a voluntary role to carry on with the job.
"I just fell in love with the place. It is just like Narnia. We might not be able to say the Narnia word out loud when we are here but that's exactly what it is to me."
