Origins of the Lodge

Wilderness Lodges have been pioneers in showing that it is possible to protect New Zealand's ancient rainforest from logging and through nature tourism create employment and boost small communities. They are actively involved in protecting New Zealand's natural heritage.

 
In 1989, husband and wife owners, teacher Anne Saunders and biologist Dr. Gerry McSweeney bought the old Lake Moeraki road building camp and Motels and moved down there with their 3 young children.  They had previously lived in Wellington where Gerry had been the director of the Royal Forest and Bird Society, www.forestandbird.org New Zealand's largest environmental organisation.

They set up the lodge to help protect the rainforests and because they wanted to share this extraordinary natural setting with visitors.

Gerry is passionate about conservation and since he was 18 years old has been involved in various campaigns around New Zealand. He has been Forest and Bird National President 2000-2005 and has remained on the National Executive. In the late 1980's Gerry was honoured to receive a Distinguished Life Membership form the Society.

Gerry has been a member of the Nature Heritage Fund since its inception in 1990. The goal of this Fund has been to work towards securing  a full range of representative eco-systems that occur on private land and add them to the public Conservation estate.

 

South West New Zealand Te Wahi Pounamu World Heritage Site
 

The forests, mountains, rivers and wildlife around Lake Moeraki were protected in 1991 within the South West New Zealand Te Wahi Pounamu World Heritage site. The creation of the South West New Zealand Te Wahi Pounamu World Heritage Site was spearheaded by Gerry McSweeney and the Forest and Bird Society.

Two million dollars was spent by the New Zealand Government between 1990 and 1996 to build an attractive network of walks and visitor centres so that visitors can discover the delights of the Haast - Moeraki region. This covers 2.7 million hectares of more than 10% of New Zealand's total land area. It extends from Westland/Mt. Cook National Parks to the southern coast of Fiordland National Park. In visiting these areas you are also benefiting the economy of our small communities.

The Wilderness Lodge is committed to the protection of the environment. At Wilderness Lodge Lake Moeraki we run our own 37KW hydro-electric generator,  have an active energy efficiency programme, recycle all possible rubbish and work in partnership with the Conservation Department who administer the surrounding World Heritage rainforests.

In late 2008 the Wilderness Lodge was assessed under the new Qualmark Green Scheme and has become one of the first accommodations in the country to be awarded "Enviro - Gold". This recognises the conservation  and education work undertaken by the Lodge and acknowledges the Lodges's efforts to minimise its impact on the environment.

Early Maori camped at Lake Moeraki  to gather eels, whitebait, freshwater mussels and birds. The Maori translation of Moeraki is "to sleep by day". This historic link was recognised by the 1998 creation of a small Historic Reserve across the river from the Lodge. The reserve is managed by Ngai Tahu, the main South Island Maori tribe.

From 1962 onwards, the Lodge site was the main construction camp for the Haast Highway - New Zealand's last major road construction. At its heart was the historic “Red Dog Saloon” an illegal bar for the road workers, which in 1965 achieved national notoriety. A police raid closed the bar and arrested the occupants who received stiff fines at a widely publicised court hearing in Hokitika.