Hilary Finnie - Hilary at the helm

Without even trying she’s landed some of Queenstown’s top marketing roles with ease and always delivered with jovial enthusiasm, and it all started straight out of school at Invercargill’s 4ZA Radio Station.
The daughter of an Invercargill architect, Hilary Finnie had a privileged upbringing, school holidays and many weekends during the 1950s and 60s spent in her beloved Queenstown. “I went to school in Invercargill, but all my living experiences were in Queenstown at our family crib in Frankton Road,” she says.
Born in 1947, the “sandwich kid” in the middle of four children, Hilary, loved to read, skied from age eight, and was a strong cricket and hockey player, as well as a school prefect. However, it was in promotions and advertising that Hilary would find her niche.
A copywriter at local commercial radio station 4ZA from 1965 until 1971, Hilary would frequently double as minder for the station’s famous budgie, Bertie. However, it was as production assistant for the station’s bigger star, radio personality Tui Slade that Hilary made her mark. On air daily, fielding live calls in one of the first talkback shows in the country, she recalls one dear old lady ringing in about decimal currency just before it was introduced in 1967. “She said, ‘I think it’s a really good idea, but why don’t they wait until all the old people die?’” laughs Hilary.
Married to husband Graeme at 20, they set off on their OE in 1971, first to Australia, then on an Italian ship for six weeks around the South American Strait of Magellan to England. It was one big party for the younger passengers, many of them still friends. “It was the first time I ever smelt pot,” she says. It must’ve been a good party. “Somehow en-route to England I got pregnant.” Their two to three year trip was greatly reduced and after some hurried UK and European travel they flew home, thanks to a parental loan.
Queenstown beckoned later in 1972 with baby Sarah in tow. Graeme worked for Frank Rose Electrical, and the following summer Hilary became warden at Queenstown Youth Hostel, by then pregnant with son Chris.
Rounding up 10pm curfew breakers was a regular occurrence, especially on Sunday nights – Skyline’s live music night, when stragglers were trying to break back into the dorms. Guests had a duty roster and even without the internet one young American arrived requesting to feed the hostel’s pet goat. “He’d heard before leaving America that that was one of the fun duties at the Queenstown hostel.”
When Graeme and workmate Dick Ussher bought the electrical business, their wives opened up a children’s clothing store – Kidstyle. “Gerry Lynch was our landlord and we paid $25 a week,” smiles Hilary. “He came to us saying he had to increase the rent and hoped we could manage it. He put it up to $28.” Kidstyle became the unofficial Queenstown crèche with mothers dropping kids off to the back room while they attended appointments or shopped.
In 1980 the Finnies did a year-long stint on the Micronesian island, Palau, where Graeme worked for an American electrical contractor. “We found an English-speaking school and when the kids returned home they were a year ahead. At a certain age those life experiences are more important than classroom ones.”
Back in Queenstown working for Buckhams Wines and Spirits, Hilary pulled many pranks, one on workmate, truckie John ‘Blowie’ Walsh. She convinced him Kiwi blokes his age were being conscripted for the Falklands War. The local police even got in on it, signing him up and fitting him for a uniform. It was three days before they told a relieved Blowie the truth.
Hilary then ran the office for the Queenstown Promotion Bureau – predecessor to Destination Queenstown, with former District Mayor David Bradford as boss. These were ground-breaking times for tourism. QPB spearheaded some major firsts for the country - seven day shopping among them. David also convinced the council to pass a commercial rates levy to fund joint marketing of the town. “The co-operative Queenstown Winter Marketing Group became a national blueprint,” says Hilary. “We took over the Winter Festival and secured its first major sponsor – DB, in 1987.”
Her effervescent personality was at the fore, manning travel show booths from Malaysia and Singapore to Sydney and Melbourne. Logistics didn’t always go as planned. “Vance Boyd came to Malaysia with us and we nearly missed our flight trying to get the raft he’d brought on board.”
In 1994 former Shotover Jet marketing manager Steve Lindsay suggested Hilary apply for Shotover Jet’s marketing manager role in Fiji. She got the job, and soon became general manager, a positon she held for four years. “This gave me huge job satisfaction. Taking something fledgling and growing it in very challenging circumstances.”
She then became sales and marketing manager of Dart River Safaris for six years, before she and Graeme bought Pittaway’s Cottage in Arrowtown in 2004 and ran it as a B & B for 11 years. Returning guests remain good friends to this day.
Promotions are in Hilary’s blood. She’s played an integral community role, volunteering for Showbiz Queenstown for 30 years, in publicity and production management.