Peter Graney

Forest and Bird is about to start looking for a new part-time manager for its Ruapehu Lodge in Tongariro National Park.

Forest and Bird New Zealand are laughing off comparisons between a vacant position at their Ruapehu Lodge and Stephen King's The Shining.

Some social media wags have hijacked the organisation's search for a new part-time manager for the 32-bed lodge, suggesting it would be ideal winter job for "a writer" (echoing the aspiring vocation of the novel's troubled Jack Torrence), as it has no TV or internet.

However, Forest and Bird's campaigns and advocacy group manager Kevin Hackwell said the real role, which is about to be advertised, was more one of overseeing, rather than bearing any similarities to Torrence's position at the Overlook Hotel.

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Despite admitting to having never seen Stanley Kubrick's Jack Nicholson-starring movie adaptation or read the book, Hackwell said the Lodge, situated 1200m above sea-level, couldn't be anymore different to King's isolated Colorado Rockies accommodation.

"It's a lovely spot, really nice, at the top of the village by other lodges and in amongst the bush."

The current Forest and Bird Ruapheu Lodge was opened by the then Governor-General of New Zealand, His Excellency the RT Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, in late 2010.

Tragedy did strike the location a decade ago, when fire destroyed the original, 40-year-old lodge, but that meant they were able to replace it with $1m facility, which opened in late 2010. At the time, it was described as, "designed to be almost indestructible against nature".

Attracting thousands of visitors a year, the lodge, by far the biggest and most modern of the organisation's dotted around the country, was, "beautifully insulated and has got really nice facilities", said Hackwell.

That included internet capability, he added, having conducted teleconference calls to and from there himself.

Forest & Bird

The original Ruapehu Lodge was destroyed by fire in 2008.

"It's nothing grand, but that's one of the reasons I like it – it's a simple, but very elegant design – not in your face. Very functional, but also very nice.

"I stayed in the old one, which was cold and damp, many times. Now, not having any condensation on the inside is just brilliant. Between the plywood and the exterior is a bloody great chunk of polystyrene, pre-fabricated in a factory in the Waikato. It's very comfortable...and cosy. I've even had the windows open when it's been snowing outside."

Unique amongst Forest & Bird's lodges, the part-time managerial position was not a live-in one and Hackwell believed it was a job that would best "suit a local".

"Perhaps someone in Whakapapa Village or National Park. It's not for someone who is living in Auckland who hates living in the city. This is not the answer and that's not what we're offering."

Describing the potential duties as "not too onerous" and mainly involving making sure the lodge was well-supplied and maintained, Hackwell said it would give someone the opportunity to earn a little income.

"It will also ensure that those staying in the lodge have someone they can ring up, who can be onsite within 20 minutes to half-an-hour if something's blocked... or something else goes wrong."

 - Stuff