tourist promotion material in later years. Once the hostel was established the Sullivans kept a boat on the lake so that tourists could capture the reflected images to best advantage.
When the second dredge at Gillespie’s operating from 1932 onwards ceased operation and went into liquidation in 1945 or thereabouts, the power station was offered for sale. A few years previously, in the early 1930s, a half mile tunnel for the Lake Gault power scheme had been built with tunnelers working three shifts each of eight hours at a cost of twelve thousand pounds. Supplies and equipment were brought in round the Oturekua Bluff to Gillespie’s by Lawn Williams, on his wide-wheeled wagon.
Mick Sullivan’s tender for the power station was accepted, gaining a more efficient and modern plant for the hostel which would also provide more than enough power for the Weheka community. He truly deserved the M.B.E. bestowed on him before he died for his services to the development of the area.
The advent of the telephone eased the isolation in South Westland but in stormy weather, the line was often damaged. Early connections were party lines with households being alerted by their own allotted signal, for example, two long rings and one short. Party lines did not promise privacy. Eavesdroppers were sometimes inadvertently revealed when they spoke about matters discussed “on the wire”. The first telegraph line into what was then called Cooks was in 1906 but this may have been limited at the time to a Post Office connection.
Mick Sullivan reported in an interview in 1959 on the history of this time.
“With sufficient power in the valley to provide electricity to householders, the idea of establishing a permanent sawmill became a good idea. He discussed it with one or two settlers and a small company was formed. The Sullivans kept the bulk of the shares and gave others an opportunity to acquire an interest.”
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