[Life at the Homer Tunnel in the 1930s]

Beryl Sutherland talks about living at Homer Tunnel in Fiordland during the 1930s and 1940s. [This recording is similar to an interview with her recorded for the programme "Open Country" - see ID21976.]

Her home was the closest to the tunnel, and therefore she tended to get quite a few visitors which was difficult in terms of providing them with refreshments. Life was simple, and one had to think well ahead for provisions as the nearest store was 100 miles away. She recalls keas tearing washing on the line, sliding down the eaves of the house, and rolling bottles down the roof.

She went to Invercargill to have her children. One day when her first child was a baby, Dr Helen Deem the Plunket Society doctor, walked through the tunnel with a group of Australian nurses. As they saw she had baby clothes hanging on the line, they called in and asked if she would like to have her baby checked.

The baby was brought up on tinned milk formula supplied by Plunket - as far as she knows he was the first child to officially do so. Plunket sent the milk monthly, and after a year his teeth were checked again. He was held as an example of the success of raising a child on formula.