Standing here, looking out over “his” patch of wild, eastern Bay of Plenty hill country, it’s clear that Darren Sinclair’s proud of what he’s achieved here.
This place is not particularly pretty – certainly not in scenic terms: The huge hills of this piece of Oponae forest, just to the west of the Waioeka Gorge – between Gisborne and Opotiki – have been stripped back to mother earth.
It’s the first part of Oponae’s steep hills covered in pine trees to be opened up for harvesting – and the 43-year-old Sinclair can look across it knowing that his DPS Haulage operation has managed to do something impressive here.
To do it in spite of dire warnings about country so steep and unstable that he wouldn’t be able to routinely get his trucks in and out. And, indeed, he’s had setbacks – floods, slips, accidents AND the uncertainties brought by a change of forest management included.
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