It was very pleasing to read that Rod has been awarded the Queen's Services Medal. Rod's achievements are summarised in this Northern /Advocate article.

I cannot say that Rod has dedicated his retired years to these multiple projects as you simply cannot define what Rod does as retirement. Most people in paid employment would not clock up the hours that Rod does. The multiple projects that he has been the driving force behind, have and continue to run concurrently. Nature dictates the work schedules and can be a unrelenting boss.

Without Rod's organisational skills and tireless energy I suspect that most of these projects would not have delivered the impressive results that can be seen today.

Congratulations and thank you Rod!

Rod surveys daunting terrain above the Wairere waterfall - track planning 2016 - Below: the same location in 2019