Enterprise

The top of the South Island has long been an area of enterprise and ingenuity. These are stories about those enterprises - business, farming, fishing, industry; and the infrastructure which has supported them.

See related stories on this site:

• Waikoropupu Springs and Hydro Walkway
• Timber Pioneers - Brownlee and Baigent
• Maori horticultural skills and their soils
• Maori and Business
• Pakohe - Argillite
• The lime and marble of Takaka Hill
• Sealords
• Edwin Fox
• Literary Nelson - books and newspapers
• Albert Tuffnell
• Colonial furniture makers in Nelson

Stories

1. The Nelson Railway
   Despite more than 80 years of drive and determination on the part of Nelsonians to work towards a railway that would end their isolation from the rest... read more
2. The Hop Centre of New Zealand
   At the centre of a good beer lies quality aromatic hops and, as luck would have it, the early English and German settlers to Nelson found the region p... read more
3. Asbestos and the Chaffeys
   A place to hide was what the Chaffeys sought when they moved to the Cobb Valley in Nelson’s remote northwest mountains. It was their desire for solitu... read more
4. Marlborough Aviation
   With its clear skies, wide, open valleys and central New Zealand location, Marlborough has been a significant aviation centre for nearly 90 years, sin... read more
5. Tobacco
   The growth and production of tobacco brought wealth, jobs and growth to Motueka and was integral to the social fabric of the district for more than 70... read more
6. Marlborough Sounds Whaling
   For nearly 140 years whalers spotted whales from hilltop lookouts at the head of Tory Channel. Whale chasing boats then raced out to harpoon them and ... read more
7. Marlborough's wine story
   The expansion of Marlborough’s wine industry over the past three decades has changed the face of the province, but even the earliest European settlers... read more
8. Dun Mountain Railway
   The Dun Mountain Railway , 1862-1907, was New Zealand's first railway. The horse-drawn tramway ran from the port, across the city, climbing to the c... read more
9. Early Pastoralism in Marlborough
   Marlborough’s earliest pastoral history was one of initial squatter land occupation, battling the twin scourges of rabbits and sheep scab, and eventua... read more
10. Wakamarina Gold
    In 1864 Nelson was aroused from a 'depressed commercial state' by the discovery of gold in the Wakamarina. Despite promising early finds, the Wakamari... read more