The Back of Beyond... and beyond

The ‘Back and Beyond’ section of the Tasman Great Taste Trail now passes through the Baton Valley, a place that’s long been considered remote.

When local writer Kerry Sunderland, who counts a number of Baton Valley residents as friends, heard about the new Baton Valley cycle bridge, she thought it would make a great story for New Zealand Geographic.

NZ Geo agreed and, in Spring 2022, published a feature story titled ‘The Back of Beyond’, which begins:

The Baton Valley, at the top of the South Island, was named after a young runaway sailor, Batteyn Norton, and it remains a place where life is isolated, physical, self-sufficient, and largely dictated by the weather. It hasn’t been much of a destination since an anticlimactic gold rush in the late 1800s—but the opening of a new cycle trail passing through the valley has put it on the tourism map. Now, its residents are wondering how to retain the identity of their home in the face of change.

After months of research, Kerry discovered that many ‘newcomers’ to the Baton Valley had arrived in unconventional ways. This includes Cheryl Dean and Brian “Woody” Woodward who moved to the valley on horseback in 1980, trailed by their goats, sheep, and cows. Striving for self-reliance, Woody made and sold musical instruments, and Cheryl ran a horse-trekking business, which attracted visitors to the valley who ending up staying longer.

You can read the full story at https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-back-of-beyond/

Kerry also went to research and write Belonging in the Baton Valley: Life in a remote river catchment northwest of Nelson, which is available for sale at Lublow’s Leap (opposite the Baton Valley cycle bridge) or online at https://thebatonhouse.nz/batonbook