The North Canterbury Alpine Trust, ‘not for profit’ operator of the Boyle River Outdoor Education Centre (hereafter variously referred to as ‘the Centre’ and ‘the Boyle’) was established in 1972, the purpose being “to build a mountain hut for the students of Rangiora and Kaiapoi.”

The visionaries set up the North Canterbury Alpine Trust to plan, lobby, raise funds, and find a suitable site for the mountain hut. On September 23rd 1978, after much hard work and hundreds of work hours, a Lodge was opened for Kaiapoi and Rangiora students to use.

The constitution then, and now, sets the Trust membership as the three Rotary clubs of Kaiapoi, Rangiora and Belfast; the two High Schools of Rangiora and Kaiapoi; and a further two co-option positions. The Rotary clubs each have two representatives while the schools each have one representative.

A group of volunteers from the communities of Belfast, Kaiapoi and Rangiora, led by their Rotary Clubs, combined with volunteers from the Rangiora and Kaiapoi High Schools set out to make the vision a reality.

Electricity arrived, as did a phone line and the old diesel generator shed now has bunkrooms in it! The latter is called the ‘Sinclair Cottage’ after the first warden Tony Sinclair.

Since then the building has been extended and has undergone major renovations and improvements.

The Lodge - 2010 (photo: Gareth Hutton)