Wanting to share special spaces in New Zealand with eco-friendly explorers, Old Boy Will Parsons (7882) sets the green standard in tourism tours.

A member of Flower's House from 1966–1970, Will, along with his wife, Rose, has led many journeys since launching Driftwood Retreat and Eco Tours in Marlborough in 2004.

Today, having handed over the Driftwood reins to fellow eco-tour champions last year, Will is firmly focused on capturing wildlife and the natural environment through his camera lens, while still being “actively involved in conservation” with the East Coast Protection Group.

Acknowledging the pair’s eco-business success, Driftwood was both a 2022 New Zealand Tourism Awards and 2017 Cawthron Marlborough Environment Award finalist. It was also recognised as the provider of New Zealand’s Best Kayak Tour, and a Qualmark Gold operator. In 2016, Will and Rose received a Marlborough Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award.

Now living in Kaikoura, Will recalls some of his best College memories, including waiting on the Royal Family when Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the then Prince Charles and Princess Anne visited the school in 1970.

“I remember being a waiter to the Royal Family in 1970,” he says. “Princess Anne removed her shoes – obviously uncomfortable and probably not realising we could all see.”

He also values “having the greatest mates in Flower’s House, particularly in our fourth year”, and enjoying being “a member of the Middle As rugby team”, coached by Headmaster Nigel Creese.

“In one game – against St Thomas of Canterbury College – we were down about 20 points, but when Nigel Creese turned up at half-time, we suddenly found our rhythm and ended up winning.”

Having been brought up on a farm in Ward, south of Blenheim, farming was the obvious post-school plan.

“I headed off to Lincoln College (now Lincoln University) to do a Diploma in Agriculture,” Will says. “However, I pulled out after one year on the recommendation of a Canterbury farmer who believed he could teach me all I needed to know.

“I had been uncertain on what to do on leaving College and having been brought up on a farm, it seemed logical to become a farmer. I had no father to encourage or guide me.”

Will’s father, James Parsons (4419), was a member of Flower’s House from 1934–1939, but died in 1953 after contracting polio, only a year after his son was born.

“I ended up farming for 20 years on the family farm,” Will says. “I briefly farmed Angora rabbits when farming was in the doldrums in the mid-1980s, and then moved into orchards for five years, producing cherries, pears, and lemons.”

In 2004, Will decided it was time to follow his conservation passion, establishing Driftwood Retreat and Eco Tours. Along with his wife and a team of guides, Will took small groups to D'urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds and the Chatham Islands east of the South Island. He also ran tours to high country farms, often focusing on alpine flora, native birds, and the local history, with conservation an underlying theme.

And as more people visited their extensive wetland property on the banks of the Ōpaoa River in Blenheim, they also planted more native trees.

Today, Will spends much of his time working with the East Coast Protection Group to restore the ‘Limestone Coast’ – from Lake Grassmere to the Waima River – by protecting native flora and fauna and revitalising habitats. He also helps out with Kaikoura Lions projects.