Horseman, outdoorsman
Someone once mused, "If Alan McKay fell down a long drop, he would come out covered in gold dust".
Alan, who died on July 31 aged 82, had an uncanny ability to turn life’s adversities to his advantage. There is no better illustration of this than his ongoing battle with the Taieri River.
His low-lying sheep farm, located at the end of Dukes Rd, often flooded several times a year as the Taieri floodwaters spilled over it, usually for long enough to kill the grass, leaving a stinking mess.
The massive 1980 flood which inundated Dunedin’s airport, including many farms which were usually unaffected along with houses, was the last straw. Alan, a keen jet boater already, decided to harness the Taieri rather than fight it. And while at Outram Glen the river looks benign, a short distance up-river it boasts grade 4 rapids.
Alan started a rafting, jet boating business, Silver Peaks Tours, which catered primarily to primary school groups. For the next 30 years Alan introduced thousands of school children to the thrill of jet boating and rafting with a heavy emphasis on water safety.
Children were often pushed out of their comfort zone as they rafted and swam through rapids supported by a lifejacket, gaining confidence and forming lifelong memories.
For more than 20 years, Alan called Olveston home, a magnificent 35-room house on Royal Tce filled with treasures collected from around the world by the Theomins.
With the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939, Dorothy Theomin, found the large house very empty. Rather than live in the big house alone, she invited Hunt Club friends Stan and Stella McKay and their two sons, Alan and Peter, to live in the house as companions. Stan had stables in Cumberland St where Miss Theomin kept her horses, and they were already firm friends.
Alan described Miss Theomin as like a grandmother to himself and his brother. The boys learnt to drive in her Wolseley car and, once they gained their licences, they would drive her to the movies or the theatre before enjoying several hours of motoring freedom during the show.
Ornate lances from the entrance vestibule worked perfectly for knocking down horse chestnuts and later, when Alan came home from mustering with his horse and pack of dogs, he would tie them up to the clothesline and Miss Theomin would carry out priceless kitchenware to hold their water.
Likewise, she did not object when he used the scullery window, more often used by Eskrick butchers and Johnson’s fishmongers delivering their wares, to take his hunting kills into the kitchen. The wild game, the pigs and the deer, were cut up on the big wooden table.
The boys’ carved initials can still be seen in the towering trunk of the protected copper beech tree overlooking the formal front lawn.
Alan was born into a family steeped in racing history in the South, His father Stan, who died in 1984, aged 78, trained 256 winners, having started in the 1949-50 season.
Stan’s father Alex, who died in 1947, was a prominent horse trainer at Wingatui while Stan’s brothers Andrew and Bob, based in Riverton, were also successful horse trainers.
Stan’s grandfather Thomas McKay who died in 1937, was also a successful horse trainer at Wingatui while his brother Bill was a prominent jumps rider in the late 1800s.
As a child, Alan competed on a remarkable pony called Toppa, who was a tremendous jumper. Alan won numerous events on Toppa before his younger brother Peter competed on him. Many other children learnt to ride on Toppa, including Alan’s four children, before he finished his days with Riding for the Disabled. Toppa lived until nearly 40, far longer than the average lifespan of a horse.
Many decades after Alan had stopped horse riding he found himself once more in the saddle. During filming of the Lord of the Rings, he put his hand up to transport horses into Milford Sound. The film crew took one look at him and a wild looking horse he was transporting and thought he’d make a great Lord of the Rings warrior. They proceeded to dress him in an elaborate costume with axes, spares, shields and a war staff.
Mounted on the very large and barely broken station bred horse, friends and family held their breath as he led the charge in front of an army of warriors and horses. They need not have worried, and horse and rider made an Academy Award cameo.
After finishing school, Alan enjoyed life in the hills, mustering on high country stations around the South Island with only his horse and dogs for company. He would shoot three rabbits a day, two for his dogs and one to spit roast over an open fire, coated with lashings of salt, for himself each night while listening to scratchy broadcasts from around the world on a battery transistor radio. It was here he developed a deep love of the outdoors.
His fiance, Sue Rodger, refused to get married until he had his teeth fixed after a number had been broken or knocked out while galloping on horseback and surprised by a low branch.
Things came to a head while mustering on Nokami Station. With his teeth causing him constant pain, he rode into Gore to have them attended to. Riding back out to his beat later the same day with a bloody mouth, he had one thing to be pleased about. By having them pulled without anesthetic, he had saved enough money to buy a wedding ring for Sue.
Alan and Sue bought land on the Taieri where they farmed sheep and cattle while also raising a family of four busy children. Before flood banks were built the river flooded their low-lying farm often several times a year. Doing what he could for his own stock, he would often launch his jet boat into the river to assist other farmers with rescuing stranded stock.
During this time with his children all riding, he was pony club president and was also on call for water-related Search and Rescue callouts. Kayakers often underestimated the Taieri River, with the search balloon usually going up after dark. Alan would launch at Outram Glen, relying on a handheld spotlight and his intimate knowledge of the river’s rocks and turns to carry out the search.
The abundance of water on his farm had one silver lining, the lowest area being developed as a wetland area for birds, and when he left the farm he was happy in the knowledge that the area is — and always will be — a protected wildlife reserve.
In 1960 he succeeded his father, Stan McKay, as starter for horse racing clubs in Otago, a position he held for nearly 50 years. He was proud of his work record, only missing two days when he put his back out and having only two false starts.
While the playground held more interest than the classroom while attending Christian Brothers school, when confronted with a mountain of paperwork as an adult he tackled it with gusto as he could see a point in the study. Gaining his SPCA warrant, he worked as an on-call inspector specialising in farm animals, a perfect fit with his own farming commitments.
Hunting had been a lifelong passion. As a young man he could shoot a running pig while at a full gallop on horseback. Later on, he eagerly looked forward to an annual hunting trip to Fiordland with mates.
Alan had exceptional bush navigational skills, he could step out of the inflatable boat where thick bush overhung the lake edge, hunt all day through head high fern and bush before stepping right back into the boat at night.
He liked to recall one trip when two of the party had boated from Centre hut on Lake Poteriteri to the outlet in one of his white-water rafts pushed by a tiny 4HP outboard. They expected the rest of the crew with all the tents and food to be flown down later in the day.
Gale force winds kept the helicopter grounded but undeterred he went hunting still dressed in a wetsuit, shooting a fat hind. He reckoned those back straps cooked over an open fire and washed down with the flagon of Rich Ruby red port put in for emergencies were some of the best he had ever eaten.
As his body seized up in later life and walking was not easy, he still shot deer by parking his Hilux where he expected they would emerge from the bush when flushed by his son Greg.
Alan and Sue retired to Wānaka in 2007, building the first home in the Peninsula Bay subdivision.
In retirement Alan enthusiastically passed his hunting skills on to new gun licence holders through the Hunter National Training Scheme (Hunts) course, run by the New Zealand Deer Stalkers Association.
He was also one of the first people to step forward and have his boat on standby for Wānaka Lakes Coastguard when it set up in Wānaka before they fundraised and bought a dedicated rescue boat.
He served on the Wānaka A&P Show committee and could be found in the horse arena setting up jumps ring and picking up fallen rails during shows. He also helped organise and collect food for the annual Wānaka Foodbank can collection.
Shortly before he died in Dunstan Hospital from pneumonia following complications after a fall, he told his daughter Sally he had had a good life, and had no regrets.
Alan is survived by Sue, his four children Sally, Nikki, Ross and Greg, and grandchildren Hannah and Toni McKay, Hunter, McKay and Chase Heath. — Stephen Jaquiery
