Adventurers trace Oamaruvian's steps

A former Oamaruvian will feature in the third episode of TV One's new documentary series First Crossings.

Two modern-day New Zealand adventurers, Kevin Bigger and Jamie Fitzgerald, have recreated the journeys of pioneer New Zealand explorers, Oamaruvian William Grave and Arthur Talbot, in their attempt to find an overland route from the Hollyford to Milford Sound, over the pass that is today known as Grave-Talbot Pass.

Eyeworks New Zealand producer Nicole Horan said in the third episode, Bigger and Fitzgerald recreated that journey, not just by walking in their footsteps, but by wearing the same type of clothes, using the same equipment and trying the same food.

"The modern-day explorers travel back to 1910 to retrace the journey of explorers Grave and Talbot, as they attempt to find a pass suitable for a tourist track across Fiordland's Darran Mountains," Ms Horan said.

"Faced with sheer vertical rock walls over one kilometre high, they must find a climbable route to the top of the mountains then traverse the peaks looking for a possible way down the other side.

"To do so, the pair will find themselves climbing in a strange and barren world."

As well as the adventures of Grave and Talbot, the five-part series First Crossing honours great NZ explorers, by telling their stories through the eyes of their modern counterparts and recreating their journeys with historical reference.

The two actors spent the summer recreating journeys, which include Whitcombe and Lauper's first crossing of the Southern Alps and Fyfe and Graham's ascent of Mt de la Beche.

Grave's grandson Michael Crozier, who is based in Wellington, but frequently visits Oamaru, said the episode followed on from the book Beyond the Southern Lakes: The Explorations of WG Grave, written by his mother, Anita Crozier.

He said the concept of the show was a "great, wonderful thing".

His grandfather was born in Oamaru in 1870 and educated at Oamaru North School, before winning a scholarship which enabled him to enter Waitaki Boys' High School where he became dux.

An interest in exploring was sparked at an early age.

While attending Waitaki Boys' High School, Grave persuaded three of his friends and a school master to accompany him on a walking tour of about 350 miles (563km) over the old coach roads of North and Central Otago in 1887.

Grave wrote a detailed account of the journey for the school magazine, the Oamaruvian, which was published in 1888.

After gaining a MA degree and LLB, he was a lawyer in Oamaru at Lee, Grave and Zimmerman.

He then became a master of staff at Waitaki Boys' High School and moved up to be the first assistant and was acting-rector before the appointment of the late Frank Milner.

It was through Grave's persistent efforts that Oamaru's Boer War memorial on Thames St was erected.

Grave is memorialised with Oamaru's Grave's Track, which runs around the tip of Cape Wanbrow from Oamaru Harbour to Boatman's Harbour, although he died before it was opened in 1935.

TV One's First Crossings screens of Tuesdays at 8.30pm. Bigger and Fitzgerald retrace the 1910 journey of Grave and Talbot on August 7.