Book Review:
From Dust To Gold by John Perriam,
Photos by Stephen Jaquiery and the Perriam family.
John Perriam was angry. His family had
farmed quite successfully at Lowburn for a century. Who was Robert
Muldoon to say they had to go? But go they must. Their farm buildings
were bulldozed and Lake Dunstan's waters rose.
Bendigo Station came up for sale and
the Perriams, knowing nothing whatsoever of high country farming,
took it on. What a task. And a very big learning curve. Fortunately
the Perriams were up to, but they had to learn all there was to know
(and more) about the type of country, its history, merinos and their
wool, wool marketing, the politics of rural life, grapes, and then to
have the entire scene abruptly change when one of the shepherds, Ann
Scanlan, found a five year old woolie while on a high muster.
Shrek, as he was named, fitted into the
scene very well, but John Perriam had to change his life to fit in
with Shrek, his schedule, his politics, his star performances, his
popularity and his fans.
Along the way two great environmental
vandals set about trying to ruin the Bendigo Station; firstly the
gold miners, secondly the rabbits.
At about the time Shrek was shorn, this
reviewer wrote a newspaper article congratulating the Perriams on the
way the Shrek affair was being handled, and how the Cure Kids Charity
and the country were benefiting from the exposure Shrek was
receiving. This book tells of the hard work, deep planning and
sleepless nights that went into making this happen. Fortunately, John
Perriam was up to it. A lesser mortal could not have coped.
The story of Bendigo Station is told
from its earliest history through to the present day, and portrays
just how things have changed. Various Perriam family companies now
produce wine, slaughter rabbits for the restaurant trade, make cloth
in conjunction with Italian mills, run a retail complex in Tarras,
and bring in tourists for game safaris, and still run sheep. John
Perriam has got over his anger.
The book is well written and easy to
read. There are far more photos than one would normally expect, but
these are all of superb quality. They could very well fill a book on
their own.
A pleasant, but eye-opening read.
This book is not in the Hampden
Library, but is in the Waitaki Library system, and can be readily
obtained.
Trevor
