‘Mr D’ – Mark Douglas - Mr ‘Do It, Done it, D’

He was affectionately known as ‘Mr D’ during his 40 years teaching at Queenstown Primary School, where Mark Douglas wore shorts year-round and always had a referee’s whistle draped around his neck.

Now at 74 and driving for Queenstown Taxis, to his delight he still gets the odd ex-pupil taxi client, a bit worse for wear in the wee hours, recognising his voice and slurring, ‘Awh! That’s Mr D!’

Mark has many proud moments from his 47-year primary teaching career, most notably helping kids to challenge themselves safely in the outdoors and leading in that by example. Not only has he successfully completed the gruelling Kepler Challenge 17 times, seven Luxmore Grunts and 13 Routeburn Classics, but Mark’s renowned locally for knocking off Ben Lomond in all weathers, night and day, a whopping 420 times.

Sports and the outdoors have always been a huge part of his life, he and his brothers growing up on the family’s Waiuku, South Auckland farm. “It was Paradise, backing onto Lake Pokoroa surrounded by 70 acres of forest, 30 minutes’ walk from the coast,” he says.

In 1960 Mark’s well-read farmer dad answered the winning question on popular Selwyn Toogood TV show, ‘It’s In The Bag’, at the Waiuku Hall taking ‘the bag’ and a flight to Christchurch for two, the kids coming too.

Mark witnessed Queenstown’s spectacular mountains and decided he was coming back to live here one day. “I was absolutely hooked.”

It took until 1980 but after teaching in Auckland for three years he scored a job in Tapanui, becoming deputy principal at nearby Heriot School. He and his wife were caught out by the Kelso Flood in 1980 with a metre of water through their home.
A senior teaching role then arose at Queenstown Primary, daughter Fleur arriving soon after.

Mark was in his element, becoming very involved in outdoor education and school sport, under legendary school principal Mel Gazzard. “They were wonderful years. My 15 years there with Mel were absolutely amazing. He was a remarkable man with a wonderful sense of adventure.”

Mark clocked 27 Year 6 Stewart Island school camps – a huge highlight, something that he and Mel instigated along with what became the school’s renowned Outdoor Education Week.

There was less red tape then. “There was no track into Sam Summer’s Hut, but Mel and I took chainsaws early before we took the kids in and cut back the windfalls. DOC then put a proper track into Sam Summer’s Hut which eventually became the loop.”

Southland Education Board approval was needed to take children on water, but the first year that they operated a gentle ‘float trip’ with help from local rafting companies their cover was blown. “As we came out by the Lower Shotover Bridge a Southland Times reporter was waiting to take a photo of the kids which landed on the front page the next day. Mel got a barrelling from the board as we didn’t have permission,” grins Mark. “Kids got so much out of that; their self-confidence grew.”

Mark managed the school’s Kapa Haka group in the early days. “We walked into our first competition in Invercargill with only three Māori kids out of 23, and Chinese, Japanese and Pakeha. It was deadly serious, but they really embraced us and loved that we were trying to bridge the gap.”

In 2018, Mark’s last year teaching, he had 11 different cultures in his class. “The kids could always communicate. They didn’t care. It was wonderful.”

‘Mr D’ had the moves too, nine-year-old boys, arms folded, cringing, as they arrived in his classroom, knowing they’d be taught ballroom dancing.

Mark ran a sports show on Resort Radio from 1991. The organiser of the local Indoor Netball competition and for a while social cricket, he and Joe O’Connell ran popular Cricket Six-a-Side competitions with all three downtown parks full. He’s coached kids’ netball and cricket to some regional wins, always in demand as umpire, earning his Umpires Provincial Badge.

Mark sat on the Establishment Events Centre Trust, fitting in Lions and Rotary, and helping wife Brenda run the Fernhill Dairy, before becoming a limousine driver in 2018.

He’s completed 24 half marathons, his best time around 1hr28mins.

A last-minute Kepler Challenge training sprint up 1748m Ben Lomond in 1991 sparked his 33-year-long personal challenge with that mountain. Still conquering NZ’s five far smaller Ben Lomonds, Mark’s now working his way up the six overseas ones – the original in Scotland set for a year’s time. He’s writing a book documenting his Ben Lomond adventures. Determined to meet his challenge he’s even completed scheduled climbs with snow on the ground in Queenstown, friends helping him plug steps up to the saddle.

“I’ve ended up up there in the dark on my own, when the moon’s out and the snow’s reflecting the light. It’s the most glorious place to be.”

“The Māori say, ‘You have a mountain’. That’s my mountain.”