The Department of Conservation (DOC) and paint company Dulux New Zealand chose Konini Lodge at Dawson Falls as the stunning location to announce the start of a $1.5 million partnership to paint and protect public lodges and huts over the next three years.
Representatives of DOC, Dulux, Nga Ruahine, Stratford District Council and South Taranaki District Council gathered at the Dawson Falls visitor centre for a powhiri before walking to Konini Lodge where Julia Myers, general manager of Dulux New Zealand, unveiled a plaque commemorating the partnership.
Local painter and decorator Allan McCullough was thanked for his work preparing the lodge in readiness for its paint makeover.
Students from Stratford Primary spoke to the adults gathered about their school's relationship with Konini Lodge, describing both the lodge and the mountain as taonga (treasures). They said students at the school had been staying at the lodge and tramping around the area for many years and described the landscape as being "like nowhere else".
They reminded listeners that staying on the mountain was not something people could do every day and it was due to huts such as Konini that they could experience the spectacular sights of the area.