David John Gunn

David John Gunn (18 September 1887 – 25 December 1955) was a New Zealander and promoter of the Hollyford Track. A farmer and bushman, he ran his almost wild cattle in the glacier-cut Hollyford Valley in Fiordland, South Westland, New Zealand.

Biography Gunn was the fourth of five children of Scottish parents, Isabella Grierson Robertson and her husband, Alexander Gunn. A one-time shepherd, Alexander Gunn ran a sheep farm of 27,000 acres in Central Otago. For secondary schooling David lived at Hook, near Waimate, with his maiden aunts on their 500-acre farm. He went back to work on and later manage the farm at Hook. He covered the , four-day journey in just 21 hours, a feat which earned him a King George VI Coronation Medal the following year.

Hollyford Track and tourism

In 1936, Gunn began guiding tramping parties down his Hollyford Track, and would continue doing so until his death in 1955. Gunn became a well-known and popular figure. He was respected for his bushcraft, his energy, and his knowledge of the area.

On Christmas Day 1955, Gunn was fording the Hollyford River on horseback near Hidden Falls, with a 12-year-old boy mounted behind him. The horse stumbled and fell, and both riders were seen to find their feet in the river, until the horse stood up and they were both swept away and drowned. Gunn's body was never found.

After his death his son, Murray, continued to guide trampers in the area, and started "Gunn's Camp", a rest-stop for trampers with store and small museum, which still stands near the southern end of the track, around from the Milford Sound-Te Anau highway.

Legacy Mount Gunn in the Hollyford Valley is named after him.