Esteemed park ranger Grahame Champness. He did well at school and on leaving, began his working career with the National Parks Board on the Milford Track. This was followed by Franz Josef Glacier, then as a parks ranger at Aoraki/Mt Cook. Grahame Champness tends to one of the dogs in his care during an expedition to Antarctica in the late 1960s. As Neil Clifton stated, "his advocacy and commitment to ‘national park values’, conservation insight and dedication were absolute".

Source: Otago Daily Times February 07, 2026 13:44 UTC