Almost 40 years of living and working in and around Stewart Island and Fiordland has instilled in us a real interest and love for the area.

And this has brought us into contact with others who share this passion. We are privileged to have had the opportunity to be involved with several ongoing projects exploring, filming and photographing these remote areas. Some of the science has been a little over our head although it's always fascinating to be involved in researching our natural world.

These include: -

* Cleangreen Images..........Two photographic essays focusing on The South Island and Stewart Island, by Gilbert van Reenen.

* South Coast Productions....... A series of videos celebrating the history, scenery and natural history of Southern New Zealand. by Dave Asher & Dave MCCarlie

* Natural History Unit.......... A series of videos celebrating the natural world, particularly around Southern New Zealand and the Sub-Antarctic Islands.

Breadboards

Recently we saw a breadboard which had been made from recycled Rimu building timber and decided that one would look nice for a breakfast board and dip tray. We found a windfall tree, salvaged part of a branch and with a little work produced a board, complete with inset paua shell for dip. The shell being a legacy of our family's time abalone diving.

The beauty of the timber and shell so attracted one of our guests that they insisted we sold it to them. And thus we decided that it would be a nice winter and wet day project. And for those guests who wished to purchase one, a reminder of Stewart Island and a way to share our love of one of our native timbers.

The extensive use of Rimu timber for joinery, furniture and panelling is a feature of Sails Ashore. Rimu is a superb timber and in the past was widely used for general construction as well as finishing and joinery. Rapidly diminishing supply coupled with very strict conservation measures have made it very difficult to find. In fact much of our joinery was sourced from logs lost decades ago in a Westland lake, salvaged, and turned into absolutely superb joinery.