Carey Virtue, Chair

Carey lives in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds with her partner Marion, having recently retired from a working lifetime in the health sector. They enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren in Wellington and in the Sounds.

She has a wide range of interests and hobbies which keep her busy. She loves the sea and the mountains and enjoys fishing and boating. In the past she has been a keen sailor, skier and mountaineer. She has recently taken up e-mountain biking after many years as a road cyclist and cycle commuter. For the first 20 years of her working life she worked as a midwife and for the last 20 years in senior hospital management.

Carey is one of the founding EICT members, and is currently the chair of the Trust. She has held this position since 2010.

As chair and trustee she enjoys being part of an effective community organisation that has a positive impact on restoring our environment. “It has been rewarding to see the positive differences that we can make to our environment, evidenced by regular bird monitoring and a recent sighting of a Fernbird in our wetlands and South Island Robin in the Pines.”

Liz Everiss, Secretary

Liz has spent many years visiting Ruakaka Bay in the Sounds. However, in 2018, her family became captivated by the charms of Endeavour Inlet and jumped camp to The Pines. Although based in Wellington, she now spends a significant portion of the year in the Inlet.  Through the Trust, Liz is pleased to contribute to projects that aim to restore natural habitats where native flora and fauna will thrive and that can be enjoyed by future generations.

Liz has always worked in education and has a particular interest in this aspect of the Trust’s work.  Her previous roles include teaching, policy & advisory roles in the Ministry of Education and, more recently, in senior management & advisory roles in the tertiary education sector.

Ian Sutton, Treasurer

Ian has been visiting the Sounds for family holidays since he was a young boy, after his mother, Bev Sutton, did the same since she was a young girl. The Suttons built their own home in the Inlet in 2008 and have been even more regular visitors since. Ian is a keen tramper and fisherman, though the true magic of the Sounds for him is "getting away from it all" and spending quality time with the family away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

He started out as a computer programmer and then he founded his own software company which he ran from 1997 until 2015. Since then he has been supporting other innovative and driven Wellington tech start-up companies.

Stu Barr

Having married his way into the Sounds via Rachel Sharp, a relative of the Howden and Cathie families, Stu began talking with other locals about their various pest problems and control efforts. There was so much great stuff happening in The Inlet, but no coordinated effort to protect the wonderful natural habitat. Not really able to sit still, Stu thought it was time to add a conservation project into his busy fishing, walking, bird watching, orchid hunting sounds schedule. 

Stu worked in the conservation field for over a decade with Goodnature and is now involved in conservation trust and advisory work along with purpose driven company development and charity work. Along with native bird and orchid nerding, he is a keen surfer and mountain biker, gardener, guitar player and devoted father.

Kent Chalmers

Kent’s family has owned a property on the western side of Endeavour Inlet since 2015.  The Sounds are a long way from their home in Dunedin but there is a draw here that is difficult to resist.  A large part of that draw is the native forest and the native species within it.  Kent hopes that being a trustee will help improve the health of the forest and the future for the species that inhabit it. He says it’s also great to be involved in a community led group like the EICT.

He comes from an operations and land management background, working as a senior manager in a forest company. He is also a board member of Orokonui Ecosanctuary in Dunedin.

Jayne Rayner

Jayne is excited to be part of the conservation efforts in Endeavour Inlet and is passionate about preserving our native flora and fauna. She has worked as an educator for the past 30 years, and for the last 15 years has worked at an Enviro School. Some of the most rewarding teaching experiences she has had, have been equipping students to take actions for more sustainable living. She brings skills in education, communication and administration to the Trust, as well as helping out with physical work of checking trap lines, planting etc.

Jayne and her husband William, have a property in the Inlet and it has been their aim to spend more time in the area. They have 2 adult children and 3 young grandchildren and enjoy sharing family time in natural places. They are looking forward to making the Inlet their permanent home from July 2023.

Deborah Early

Deborah lives in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds and hopes that being a trustee will help improve the health of the local forest and waters for future generations. She comes with international and local experience in education, conservation and allied-healthcare sectors. She has a wide range of interests and hobbies including the outdoors, reading, drumming and photography.

Steve Bayley

Steve has been a member of the Pines community since 2020 and owns “Le Shack”. Steve grew up on a sheep and potato farm just south of Christchurch. He has always had a connection with nature and the natural environment, whether it was skiing in the alps or sailing or diving around the sounds. He spent most of his career working at Southern Woods Tree nursery as the Maintenance and Projects Manager gaining a diverse range of skills, knowledge and experience. He has also spent 6 years representing NZ at 2 winter Paralympic Games and one World Champs. The rest of his time is spent being a full-time dad to his three kids and volunteering with Paralympics NZ as a Paralympic selector, Board member of Adaptive Snowsports Canterbury, being a peer support provider for The NZ Artificial Limb board providing valuable support for new amputees. In his spare time he loves gardening, road and MTB cycling, scuba diving, philosophy, meditation and spiritual practices, natural medicines and living in harmony with Gaia.

Steve is looking forward to this opportunity to connect with the community and the land, and working in collaboration with each other and the environment so that we may all benefit from the stunning environment in Endeavour Inlet for many generations to come.