Mona Anderson

The Wilberforce River in all its moods governed Mona Anderson's life for 33 years, and was inspiration for her best-seller A River Rules My Life.Her introduction to the river came in 1940 when she arrived as the bride of Ron Anderson, manager of Mt Algidus Station.She had been looking after an aunt on the West Coast of the South Island, when an old swaggie nicknamed John the Baptist called in for his regular cup of tea. He was taken with the young woman and surprised that she wasn't married."I know of a man who needs a wife," he said, and gave her Ron Anderson's address.She first wrote to him as a joke, but when he replied she was impressed and the correspondence flourished. They met, fell in love and married.The 23,000ha Mt Algidus property lies in a fork between three rivers in the Canterbury high country. In the early 40s it was regarded as some of the wildest and roughest farming land in New Zealand.Access to the homestead, at 550m above sea level, was by horse or dray across the river, when water levels would allow.The young Mrs Anderson set about home-making with enthusiasm and energy and a good-sized sense of humour."Before I was married I knew nothing about station life," she said. "I could have distinguished between a cow and a sheep and I could sometimes tell the difference between a lamb chop and a pork chop, but that was the limit of my experience, and I was determined to keep my ignorance to myself."Mona Anderson was awarded an MBE in 1979 for services to literature.