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Port Ligar was named after an early surveyor. The
first owner in the 1880s was George Crichton. The highest peak of 443m
on the farm is named in his honour. He sold it to Henry Harris in 1900
who continued to clear the bush, fence and sow grasses. In 1915 Ted
Tosswill, a sea captain, bought Ligar, selling it in 1924 to Philip
Shand. According to family tales he bought it to retire to because of
the grouper ground off West Entry point.
His two sons, Anson & Jack took over in 1935 and on
the death of Anson during WW2 Jack assumed full control. In 1970 Jack
and Constance purchased Maud Island in the Pelorus Sound and handed
Port Ligar over to his 2 sons Martin and Tim. They farmed the 3000
acres in partnership
until the mid 80¹s when due to varying family
demands they decided to farm their own blocks separately. Martin sold
his farm Te Kopi in 2000 and has retired to Nelson.
Tim and his wife Raewyn continue to farm the
remaining 580 hectares along with their 10 children who are now 4th
generation of the Shand family to live at Port Ligar. To ensure
continuity and stability of the family the farm is now owned and
operated by family trusts.
Port Ligar (rhymes with cigar) lies at the entrance
to Pelorus Sound and fronts both Cook Strait and Admiralty Bay. It is
best described as a nautical sheep station as no portion of its 580
hectares is out of sight of the sea. The land rises abruptly from the
ocean and keeps going that way. Precipitous bluffs have led to a
watery grave for many unwary animals. Once covered in native bush the
land is now largely cleared for grazing although a beautiful stand of
65 hectares of virgin bush has been retained and is named the Sir
Bernard Fergusson Private Scenic Reserve after one of our previous
Governor Generals who was privileged to visit here and experience the
rugged beauty of the place.
The original station ran 5000 Romneys and 200 Black
Polls, however due to the farming climate we now only run 1000 Romneys
and 100 head of cattle. We have diversified into marine farming in the
latter years which now reaps the bigger percentage of our income.
Life at Port Ligar has always been very dependant
on the weather and tide. Large punts would bring in supplies and fuel
and take out stock. Nowadays with the advent of the road we mainly use
trucking for transporting stock and fuel and the 4 wheel drive vehicle
which has made town far more accessible and less dependant on the
tide.
Waterfall Bay is tucked into a southern corner of
Port Ligar adjacent to the Bernard Fergusson Reserve and was developed
into a tourism entity during the 1980¹s. We were offered the
opportunity of purchasing the property at the beginning of 2002 and
are excited at the chance to expand our family's enterprises.
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