Gentle Annie Nature Experience Facility

One of KNECT’s desires is to create opportunities for our people to easily connect with nature in meaningful ways. One of the big gaps for our community, both here in Buller Kawatiri and nationally, is tramping huts that are designed with young families in mind that are close enough to road ends to be achievable for the masses and that cater for small kids who won’t necessarily want to be quiet for an entire night. After a visit to the Rod Donald Hut on Banks Peninsula a seed of an idea was born to create a special place here on the West Coast where families and novice trampers could get their first taste of staying in a backcountry hut and immerse themselves in the beauty of the Coast. A quick discussion with the team at Gentle Annie about whether the hut could be situated on their land was had, and so the seed started to sprout. Further soil was added to the idea when Glenn met architect Mike Tait-Davis on the Paparoa Track and convinced him to get involved. After a year or so of throwing ideas around we are close to having the plan in place and will soon be starting the not insignificant task of raising the necessary funds for the build.