Pam and Mark

Mark must come from entrepreneurial stock. He slips easily into talking about his brother Kim who made an astonishing movie, Shadowlands, with a camera mounted on a helicopter flying through the fiords. Because there was nowhere to play it, Kim built a cinema.
There was no bar to celebrate in, so he built one of those too. Mark jokes that he is the best patron.

In a remote place like Te Anau, transport by helicopter seems logical. Mark has been based there since he was 15 and has been flying choppers since he was 22.

Mark put the first notches in his belt in the days of venison recovery. 

The culture of that era has been described in the novel Hawks by Andrew Grant: "This was a time when the cowboys rode choppers instead of horses and used semi-automatic weapons, not six guns. They lived, worked and sometimes died in the most rugged and spectacular corner of this country - the vast Fordland wilderness." Hawks, Andrew Grant 1999.
The art of capturing live deer meant honing up new skills and working with a mate who could jump out of the chopper at the fleeing animal. Not a job for the faint hearted: for more stories click here

Mark worked for a helicopter company in Alaska, contracted to the US Government transporting Biologists and Vets in a programme to fit radio collars and track elk, caribou, wolves and grizzly bears.

Visiting Colorado, Mark was intrigued by a Log Cabin. He determined that, when he found the right place in New Zealand, he would have a go building one himself. The 10 acres in Te Anau, remote and framed by the natural landscape certainly fit the bill. Mark and Pam enjoy their own log home and have a log cabin for guests.

When he is not at home in New Zealand Mark works as a chopper pilot, shifting drill rigs in Alaska. 


Pam sometimes travels with Mark as his manager.
At home she is a keen golfer, living next door to the course.
Mark reckons she has her work cut out keeping an eye on him.

Pam and Mark offer a luxury two bedroom log cabin - a King loft and a King bedroom that sleep up to 5 people.
The Cabin is spacious and fully equipped with all modern amenities, telephone and wifi.

Relax and enjoy complimentary New Zealand wine by the fire or enjoy it in the sunshine on the deck. Breakfast supplies are provided to you daily and include fresh farm eggs, bacon and venison sausages, freshly baked bread, croissants, home-made muesli and fresh seasonal fruit.


$400 for 2 people
$50 extra per person