By Hillary Campbell, Chief Executive

Hillary Outdoors had been trying to establish a third Centre for some time. The Kinloch Centre project began in 2017 and survived several years of planning before COVID finally brought it to an end.  A third Centre remained on the Trust’s strategic plan, preferably somewhere marine, conservation-focused, remote and wild. 

Finding someone willing to help fund it had taken years and several conversations. So, when the actual request was finally ready to send to a funder, pressing send was considerably more nerve-racking than the email itself. I sent it off at 10pm, and by 9:33am the following morning, I received a response: they were interested. The funder thought the biggest hurdle would be finding the right property. 

And so, the search began. There was something faintly ridiculous about viewing multimillion-dollar properties in gumboots and shorts, occasionally with wet hair from a morning surf.  One might imagine this would involve polished cars and snazzy clothes, but our version involved long grass, muddy boots and trying to work out whether a property could become an outdoor education centre. 

Then, during the October 2023 school holidays, a voicemail arrived. 

“Hillary, this is Grant Stapleton. Call me back.” I had never met Grant.  

I was at the Hillary Challenge in Tongariro with Fundraising Manager Dawn Crispe. The Centre was so full that we were staying in an A-frame in the National Park. Events Manager Darren Ashmore, who was running the Challenge, was sleeping in an office on-site, kept awake by the light from the Wi-Fi equipment. 

I found somewhere quiet and called Grant back. I remember thinking, ‘You are very forward. I hope this is a million-dollar gift’. It wasn’t…at least, not yet. Grant was the business manager for Anne and Bruce Clegg, who had owned and developed Tangiaro Kiwi Retreat at Port Charles for more than 20 years. He thought we should come and see it. 

On 12 October, Tongariro Centre Manager Jono, Dawn, and I headed north. The drive along State Highway 25 was beautiful, even the final 14 kilometres of gravel. Right when we started to wonder where we were, we turned the corner and saw the entrance to Tangiaro Kiwi Retreat.  

Right from the beginning, it felt right. Sir Edmund Hillary had said that if another Centre were to be established, it needed to be in the wilderness and to be remote. Port Charles managed both. It also remarkably met 36 out of the 37 criteria points we had for a third Centre. 

The next day, the funder came to see it, taking the considerably simpler route: a twenty-minute helicopter flight from Auckland.  

Over the following months, there were more visits. Trustees were flown in; some chose to drive. Jono calls helicopters bumblebees – aerodynamically, they aren’t meant to fly. Staff carried out reconnaissance for climbing, kayaking and other activities. Sash, Rich, Charlie, Mel, Will and Sam all began working out what Hillary Outdoors could do there. 

The Trust wanted the property, but we simply couldn’t afford the asking price. 

Grant met Tony Gault, a Trustee and me in our Manukau boardroom. Anne and Bruce wanted Tangiaro to remain in New Zealand hands, but more importantly, they believed in what Hillary Outdoors did for New Zealand youth. 

So, they made an extraordinary decision to reduce their asking price by several million dollars so we could afford to buy it. That million-dollar gift I had jokingly hoped Grant might be calling about back in October had, in a rather unexpected way, become a multimillion-dollar one. 

On 18 December, Grant called while I was in the car park picking up my children from their after-school programme, to tell me that the Cleggs had accepted our offer. After years of trying to establish a third Centre, that was the moment we knew we might actually have one. 

Months of due diligence followed. Council, roads, emergency access, resource consent, neighbours and mana whenua all had to be worked through. Chapman Tripp, a Hillary Outdoors partner for more than 25 years, handled the legal work pro bono. 

While all that was going on, something none of us expected happened. The decision to close the Hillary Outdoors Aotea Great Barrier Island Centre was made, our home since 2006. So, while documents were being signed to move into one Centre, others were being signed to move out of another. 

That story, particularly the staff, neighbours and Aotea Great Barrier community who were part of Hillary Outdoors for nearly two decades, deserves one of its own. 

On 10 May 2024, Port Charles went unconditional, and on 7 June, we received the key. After everything required to get there, the key itself was wonderfully underwhelming: an ordinary house key on a cheap plastic keyring. 

While the Cleggs were still onsite after handing over the key, they shared Tangiaro’s history with our 2024 Diploma students, who were staying onsite before a two-week sea-kayaking journey. In one of those coincidences that tend to become part of a place’s folklore, student Kane’s grandmother had been Anne Clegg’s bridesmaid. 

Then the real move began, and Hillary Outdoors was not arriving quietly.

The funder called to say his helicopter was approaching. I looked up and could see it coming across the sky. I looked down the driveway and there was Jono on the tractor heading towards the landing area. 

Boats were arriving. Vans were arriving. Gear was arriving. Brett and Tom, our Aotea Great Barrier neighbour and long-time friend of Hillary Outdoors, were bringing the last of it across from the island. 

Within two hours of receiving the keys, we had our safety vessels, three vans, sailboats, waka, and gear on site. For something of this scale, apparently arriving only by road was far too ordinary. Hillary Outdoors came in by air, land and water. 

At Little Sandy, Anne Clegg warned Jono that the tractor needed to enter the water at an angle or it would get stuck. So, of course, Jono went straight in and got stuck in front of the locals. 

There were other small moments that made us laugh. During the sale we had understood the chattels included everything onsite. Jono was particularly excited about the digger and brewery. I had my eye on 120 white terry-cloth robes. 

The digger belonged to builder Craig “Huggy” Hugo, so that went, and the brewery had to be dismantled. Sorry Jono! And the robes disappeared…. fortunately, not before a few staff photographs. 

That evening, the funder joined us for champagne and a barbecue on the balcony at what is now Jono’s Place. While we talked about what came next, a ruru (native owl) landed on a light less than 20 metres away. Everyone stopped and watched it. The following morning, a huge rainbow stretched across the Centre. 

There was plenty of work still to come. Twenty-two beautiful buildings had to become an outdoor education centre. Six kitchens, six bathrooms and six gas fireplaces came out. And forty-two locally made bunk beds went in. 

During

After

The main builder was there for weeks, steadily working through the renovations. One of the other builders, however, had his own system: he made sure he was rostered every second week because he was convinced the fish only bit on the alternate ones. 

It captured something about Hillary Outdoors Coromandel almost immediately. Work hard all day, then, when the tools are down, get out on the water. 

The curtains were still being installed on 14 December, the day before the first pilot group arrived. It was the NZSAS Trust. We figured they would give us honest feedback. Pilot programmes continued until 6 March 2025, when we held the Hillary Outdoors Coromandel Centre celebration. 

Less than eighteen months after Grant Stapleton left a voicemail asking for a call back, Hillary Outdoors Coromandel was operating. Not held together with number eight wire this time. But still, unmistakably, Hillary Outdoors.