The book’s author, oral historian Rosemary Baird, became interested in the Manapōuri project while researching her PhD thesis at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | سԹ.
“That piece of research was about trans-Tasman migration. One of my first interviewees, Frank, had worked at Manapōuri. He talked about the dangers and hardship of life there and he was a born storyteller. I was hooked,” says Dr Baird.
Existing histories of the hydro scheme focused on technical aspects of large-scale electricity generation, or on the more widely known ‘Save Manapōuri’ conservation campaign that ran from 1969 to 1972. Dr Baird believed an oral history would add a diversity of voices and experiences to this important chapter in Aotearoa New Zealand’s history.
She recorded 18 life histories with members of the Manapōuri hydro community, a multicultural group that included Italian, English, American and Croatian workers, as well as Māori and Pākehā. Readers will recognise the name of another born raconteur, Tim Shadbolt, former Mayor of Waitemata City and Invercargill, who worked at Manapōuri as a young man.
Collectively, these stories paint a vivid picture of work in the harsh Fiordland environment: frosts thick enough to immobilise heavy machinery; ever present water and damp, above and below ground; and perilous working conditions that claimed 18 lives and injured many more.
Recollections also shed light on the personal, political and social dimensions of life at Manapōuri. They touch on class hierarchies, attitudes surrounding ethnicity, sexuality and gender, women’s lives in the isolated community, and responses to the conservation campaign.
Evocative photographs, including many from the interviewees’ personal collections, enrich this portrait of an era.
Dr Baird believes the range of experiences explored in the book will connect with a wide audience, especially as many New Zealanders have personal links to the project.
“When I was researching it, I’d hear: ‘My dad was a Ministry of Labour inspector at Manapōuri,’ or ‘I worked for the company that supplied the pipes.’ Thousands of people were employed there and for their descendants these stories will contain a lot of insights.”
Dr Rosemary Baird will be sharing Stories from the Manapouri Hydro Project in conversation with Liz Grant on Friday 29 August as part of the Festival 2025, proudly supported by Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | سԹ.
The Middle of Nowhere: Stories of Working on the Manapōuri Hydro Project by Rosemary Baird is published by Canterbury University Press, RRP $55, flexibound, 240 x 170mm, 272pp, ISBN 978-1-98-850346-2. It is available in bookstores and through Canterbury University Press.
About the author: Rosemary Baird is a Senior Outreach Advisor at Heritage New سԹPouhere Taonga. She has a doctorate in oral history from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | سԹ and loves social history, heritage places and personal stories.
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