Dave Rosanowski is a diesel mechanic and a typical hunting, fishing, shooting Kiwi bloke.
Alistair Wilson is an electrician who enjoys the outdoors and conservation.
Both men are employees of Rio Tinto Alcan at the New Zealand Smelters Ltd (NZAS) plant at Tiwai Point which has supported the Kakapo recovery programme for 21 years. This sponsorship today approaches $4 million, including close to 900 employee man-days.
Before their flight to Codfish Island, both men were required to observe strict quarantine requirements in Invercargill, double-checking the removal of dirt, seeds and insects, as well as washing boots in a viricidal disinfectant and checking for any rodent hitch-hikers.
Dave and Alistair enjoy a cuppa before spending their day dismantling a faulty generator in a tiny shed near the 14-bunk hut which houses a small permanent team of Department of Conservation rangers and as many as 40 volunteers during the breeding season.
Dave has been a frequent visitor to the island over the past five or six years, helping upgrade a small hydro-electricity plant and install solar panels.
Alistair has volunteered as a nest-minder; he takes a week's annual leave and the company gives him another week of special leave for a two-week stint on the island.
The nocturnal mother kakapo leaves the nest after dark and Alistair's job is to note this and sneak down to the nest with a small electric blanket for the egg.
An electronic buzzer announces the mother bird's return and Alistair scoots down to the nest to remove the heater before she arrives.
While modest about his involvement, he is full of admiration for the effort put in by Doc staff to help this species survive.
The pair could not fix the generator that day; it needed to go back to a work bench, meaning a return trip for re-installation in that cell-like shed. Neither man looked downcast at the prospect.
