100 years in the bag and getting ready for another century

• Date: 28 April 2021
• Published date: 28 April 2021
• Publication title: Courier, The

Kieran Pavletich always knew that water was the key to the success of Station Peak.

It was his vision to one day see the flats of the property, on the Hakataramea Highway near the Hakataramea township, green, using the valuable resource of the neighbouring Waitaki River.

He and his wife, Julie, moved to live on the farm in 1982 and, soon after, 120ha was developed into border-dyke irrigation. Unfortunately, that development coincided with the toughest farming climate since the Depression.

Drought, poor stock prices, the impact of Rogernomics and the interest rate on the money they had borrowed going from from 7% to 21% made for difficult times. Mrs Pavletich worked as a teacher at Hakataramea Valley School and that income was to be a life-saver.

‘‘It was my salary that kept us going because we didn’t take anything out of the farm for quite a few years,’’ she said.

Fast forward to now and Mr Pavletich’s vision has been realised; the flats are green under further irrigation development and the Pavletich family remain on the land, running a very different operation from what was originally a traditional sheep and beef property.

At Easter, the Pavletich family celebrated 100 years of farming Station Peak — or technically 101 years as COVID-19 disrupted plans for a celebration last year — which included a community invitation for anyone with a connection to the property to attend.

For her, reaching the milestone was a ‘‘great achievement’’ and they were grateful for the opportunity gained through Mr Pavletich’s aunt to continue to farm there, Mrs Pavletich said.

The proudest thing for her was seeing the next generation coming in ‘‘and just really stepping up over the last few years’’ as the family’s association with the property continued.

In a book written for Station Peak’s centenary, local author Lynley Irving wrote how the original Station Peak run extended as three individual 10,117ha blocks, 12.8km along the Waitaki River front to its boundary with Elephant Hill and up into the Hakataramea Valley for 25km, as far as Rocky Point.

It was first taken up by Herbert Meyer in 1855 and then bought by Robert Campbell, a prominent figure in North Otago’s history, who went on to have the baronial mansion which is now the centrepiece of Campbell Park Estate built.

Mr Campbell paid £40,500 for Station Peak in 1869 and that included 41,000 sheep, 13,500 lambs, 50 cattle, 16 horses, 53km of fencing, buildings and plant.

At one stage, Queenstown’s founding father...