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A chance meeting in the trenches during World War One led English born Eric Edward James (1899–1942) to leave his home in Sussex and travel to New Zealand where he spent more than 10 years exploring South Westland.
Eric had enlisted when he was 17, having lied about his age, and while stationed in France, he met Donald McPherson from Okuru (near Haast) in South Westland. The stories Donald told made Eric want to come and see the land for himself and he arrived in New Zealand soon after the end of the war. Eric visited his friend at Okuru and promptly fell in love with South Westland and in 1924 married local woman Edith Gertrude Cuttance.
James was a great promoter of the wonders of South Westland and wrote articles for newspapers extolling the splendour of South Westland for trampers, deer stalkers and those interested in fishing. By this time, he was known as the person to contact if you required a horse or a guide in the area and he facilitated many trips including that of geologist Francis Turner of Otago University.
Eric was also promoting the virtues of a road over Haast Pass that would link Wanaka and Hokitika – a road that was eventually built in the 1960s.
In 1929 James was successful in his request to have a film made of the journey over Haast Pass. In February two government photographers and a “movie man” left Wanaka for the West Coast. Eric made sure that the men reached all the points of interest and many photographs were taken along with 1,200 metres of film. The resulting movie 'Riverland Trails' by the New Zealand Government Publicity Officecan be viewed on the Ngā Taonga website.
Following this journey Eric gave free lantern slide lectures on the West Coast, to the Otago Expansion League and to mountaineering and tramping clubs in Christchurch and Wellington. His talks were illustrated with “a large and splendid collection of lantern slides”, copies of which are now held by Canterbury Museum.
The following year Eric set off on another expedition, this time to explore the area north of Milford Sound, which was almost totally umapped byEuropeans, to “seek an easy coastal route” between Milford Sound and Martins Bay at the mouth of the Hollyford River. His companions were photographers William Watson and another who worked for the Auckland Weekly News, probably William Barbour Beattie (1902–1991).
The party left Makarora on 27 May 1930 and were away for 11 weeks, travelling over Haast Pass, through Okuru and then down to the Coast via the Cascade Valley. The boulder beaches are difficult for both people and horses and it was probably with some relief that they reached Martins Bay. The group spent some time in the Hollyford and Pyke valleys before the Auckland Weekly News photographer left for Queenstown. The remaining two men wanted to travel further south and were joined by Martins Bay resident Malcolm McKenzie.
The men crossed the estuary of the Hollyford River in a precarious raft made from a bathtub and bundles of flax sticks before heading south to the Kaipo River. The party then followed the Kaipo River to its source and set up a base camp. From this point Eric continued on alone while Watson and McKenzie retraced their steps. The plan was for them to take a whaleboat with supplies from Martins Bay to Dale Point near Milford Sound and meet Eric. The plan was scuppered when they found that the boat was already in use.
After the departure of his friends, Eric set off, first reaching the saddle between the Kaipo and Wolf (now Professor) Creek catchments and then continuing to the saddle at the head of the John O’Groats River. From a ridge to the east of this saddle he saw two lakes, which he later visited, and “what appeared to be a promising practical alpine pass in the Darren Mountains leading towards the Hollyford River”, possibly O’Leary Pass.
After camping at the lakes he had seen from the saddle, Eric travelled down the river to the coast and then headed south to make the rendezvous with Watson and McKenzie, not knowing that they were not coming. A rising tide and the dismal prospect of being cut off from the small amount of provisions that he still had led to Eric making the fortuitous decision to turn back.
Heading north he turned inland up Sydney Creek and crossed a low range to reach base camp in the Kaipo Valley 12 days after setting out. He then rejoined the rest of his party at Martins Bay and after a few days rest, the group travelled back to Okuru and on to Makarora.
Eric had found two previously unmapped lakes, explored the John O'Groats River from the coastline to its source and found “an easy overland route connecting Milford Sound and Hollyford Valley” and followed a “…hitherto unexplored valley” to its source. Ever the promoter, Eric undertook another lecture tour and talked up a “number of practical routes connecting Milford with Martin’s Bay which could be blazed at a small outlay”.
Despite Eric’s enthusiasm for South Westland, he wasn’t universally well liked. He was a man who spoke his mind and believed in the law. When he became a Fisheries Act Ranger he fell out with (WD) Dinnie Nolan, the patriarch of the Haast district, and life there was made uncomfortable for him. The family moved to Makarora but misfortune followed. In 1931 seven of his horses were shot and many of his sheep shot or drowned. Then his house at Makarora caught on fire. Eric was away but Edith and their three children escaped in their nightwear.
The James family moved to Dunedin where Eric sold milk from a herd of Jersey cows. He was still promoting South Westland, giving talks and advocating for a road between Makarora and Hokitika.
Eric James enlisted for World War II and was a Lance Corporal when he was killed in action in Egypt on 15 July 1942. As active and enthusiastic as ever, shortly before his death Eric had been on a mountaineering trip in Syria with two mates. Eric James was survived by his wife Edith and six children. One of his grandsons donated Eric’s collection of lantern slides to Canterbury Museum, enabling the story of his exploration and promotion of South Westland to be recognised.
