Jim and Shirley return to the Mountain View after 20 years

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 37, 5 March 1985, Page 12

Jim and Shirley return to the Mountain View after 20 years

Twenty years after leaving their hotel in National Park, Jim and Shirley Quirk have returned with their youngest son Gerald, to run the place once again. The couple leased their hotel — 'Mountain View' — to Dominion Breweries in

the sixties, when their children lieeded secondary education, and moved to Rotorua. Since then they have done contract catering for single men's camps and have recently been catering at the Turangi Holiday Park for employees of the hydro

schemes and the Ministry of Works. Shirley says the hotel has changed greatly over the twenty year period, and she is looking forward to renovating it. "We have quite a few plans for improving the hotel. We also want to cater more for skiers and tour

groups, as well as the locals." Shirley will run the restaurant and accommodation side of the business, while Jim and Gerald will take care of the bars. In 1948 the Mountain View was a private hotel which Mr and Mrs Quirk ran for ten years, When licencing came into the King Country, the Quirks successfully applied for a licence, built the bars and extended the accommodation area. Prior to this, the hotel catered for mill workers as there were eleven mills in the area. Logging truck drivers and batten-splitters were regular guests. Shirley remembers it was notuntil 1 952 that electricity came to the hotel. "Before that it was hard trying to dry 100 sheets on the line, especially in winter — they would just freeze solid!" In the three weeks they have been back, Shirley, Jim and Gerald have settled in well. "There are still lots of old faces here. We have been given a good welcome home."