Golden Bay mountain man launches his second anthology of poems
Launched last Wednesday at the Takaka Memorial Library, Frank Soper’s second anthology of poems, These Small Fields, celebrates both the people and lands of Golden Bay, from subalpine Lonely Lake and crags of the Dragon’s Teeth (once called the Sawtooth Range), to the limestone battlements of Te Hapu and his cherished trees at Milnthorpe.
It’s full of thoughtful philosophy and heroic tales of early settlers. An odd mate or two is remembered for sharing his dream or having their own, such as For John Mitchell, while some are more delightful love songs to his wife Berna.
Frank Soper was born in Takaka in 1924, his mother’s side of the family having lived in the Bay since 1875. He helped dairy-farm his family’s land at Puramahoi until 1976, when he moved with wife Berna to live atop Beinn Dobhrain (referred to locally as Waitapu Hill). His lifetime of backcountry exploits has seen him explore much of the Northwest Nelson wilderness, including the first-ever white water rafting with three mates down the Grade 5 Karamea River in the late summer of 1954.
In August 1960, Frank teamed up with ‘another bush and mountain-loving dairy farmer’, Keith Marshall, to set up the Golden Bay Alpine and Tramping Club, throwing the word alpine into the title because of the unique plants found here and nowhere else. The huts at Boulder Lake, Adelaide Tarn and Lonely Lake were all precut in Frank’s workshop before being packed up and flown in by fixed wing and helicopter to where they were built and still stand today.
It could be said that Frank’s early advocacy of conserving our backcountry was one of the defining influences in getting Kahurangi National Park up and going.
Frank’s first anthology, The Little Ships, was released in late 2002. Its title came from the little coasters that sailed in and out of Waitapu port. Frank says his working life on his hilltop overlooking the Takaka River estuary still rewards him daily with the quiet joys of farming. Plainly inspired are his themes, which succinctly yet subtly tell of birds and small beasts, rain and stars, small flowers in the field, even the silver of argillite in the sand.
These Small Fields is available from Take Note Takaka for $30.
Gerard Hindmarsh
