Kilgour Was Here: the story and a video of a hut nut
by Sam Demas
(Note: this is part of the larger work New Zealand Huts: Notes towards a Country Study)
Talking about huts, Kiwis I met often spoke with awe about Paul Kilgour, the Golden Bay tramper who has “visited more huts than anyone else in New Zealand”. We ended our Cobb Valley tramp just ahead of Cyclone Gita and drove to Takkaka, where we hoped to meet Paul and others. Very soon, in talking with Gerard Hindmarsh (whose books are a delightful trove of Golden Bay stories, including some about huts and about Paul) we learned that Paul is his friend and neighbor. We got through to Paul and invited him for dinner or a drink, he turned the tables, inviting us to his house since Takkaka was essentially closing down for the cyclone and he really didn’t want to go out. So we brought along beer and pizza, and Paul’s partner Janet provided a garden salad and a super-delicious southern-style apple pie (she is from Tennessee!). [They met on the Heaphy Track where she was a hut warden, at the end of his “great walk”, but thats another story]. We spent a wonderful evening talking, spent the night in our camper parked in their driveway, and had coffee with them in the morning. A memorable visit from which I learned a great deal.
Paul Kilgrour and Janet Watchman
However, after dinner that night, when our partners had grow weary of all the hut talk and retired for the night, I took out the video camera and recorded Paul telling his story. He was on a roll! What follows is a brief written profile of Paul and a link to the video. You may want to skip the writing and go right to the video at the end of this post!
With his Gandalf beard, bright eyes and glowing good health, Paul has a beatific presence. His elfin whimsy, great energy, and thoughtful, loving affect, make it clear he loves people and is genuinely compassionate He seems the sort of person who can talk with anyone. He connects with people in part because he is quietly alert, endlessly curious, and seems knows at least a little about a-lot of things. For example, trained in the air force as an airplane mechanic, he seems to know lots of folks with planes, a handy thing when getting around in the backcountry. He loves the “old ways” and has great respect for the self-reliant Kahurangi folks who “make do with what you got”.