Date: 11th November 2025
This intimate, layered portrait of Neill and Barb Simpson was written by Georgia Merton for Patagonia, with photography by Dee Gerlach. We’ve included the first paragraph here and you can click through to read the full piece below.
Barb and Neill Simpson have taken their love of the land, a stubborn attitude and a bunch of volunteers, and created a legacy of biodiversity in the Wakatipu basin.
“Just get on with it,” Neill Simpson tells me across the kitchen table, eyes fixed on mine and well worn hands folded in front of him. “If you wait for people to cross every t and dot every i, you’ll lose your enthusiasm. Occasionally you get a slap on the knuckles, but that’s about all.” Neill’s not speaking in a Fast Track, get-on-with-it-and-build-a-big-mine kind of way. He’s a botanist, and he’s talking about conservation. And life, really, after I’ve asked for advice. “Yes, and volunteer, volunteer, volunteer,” adds Barb Simpson brightly. She’s a teacher, fellow conservationist, Neill’s wife of 57 years – and the animated to his softly spoken.
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