Menu
Bealey Publican, Paddy Freaney 2001.
Expand/collapse
About this image
DescriptionBealey Publican the late Paddy Freaney shot to fame in 1992, when he claimed to have seen a live moa in the vicinity. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but the following year he won an award for most effective promotion of a hotel!
Paddy wasn't just a moa watcher he was first to climb, in 1976-77, all 31 peaks in the country higher than 10,000 ft.
Photo shared from National Geographic.PhotographerPeter QuinnDate of Photo2001Map[1] ContributorMaye Dunn
Paddy wasn't just a moa watcher he was first to climb, in 1976-77, all 31 peaks in the country higher than 10,000 ft.
Photo shared from National Geographic.PhotographerPeter QuinnDate of Photo2001Map[1] ContributorMaye Dunn
Shown in this image
Location (city or town)BealeyPersonPaddy Freaney
Category Information
Category TagPeople
From Facebook
Date Created7th May 2021CommentsGail Bradley
That had to be after a few Guinness’s
Karen Potter
Gail Bradley he liked a few. Lol. Nice joker..
Euan Allott
Probably a Masport
Graham Porter
I remember it well , was a publicity stunt to get more buisness , and it worked.....lol
Graham Porter
The hotel is now closed down
Dave Dellow
Graham Porter The hotel is not closed.
Kerry Molloy
yes and Leo Molloy bought a van load of his customers from his fat ladies arms pub in palmy north(varsity students) to hunt Paddies moas .Ive still got the news article here .he even gave the dopey reporter a series of moa calls. in fact theres two on the hillside at the entrance to the Bealey pub and one at the Greymouth end of Otira! Euan -in response to you-many years ago a deer recovery crew flying in fiordland reported sighting a moa on one of their missions .anyhow news leaked out and as the story goes some hi faluting jap TV channel sent a crew out to nz to film this exciting discovery .yes they got flown in to where the sighting allegedly occurred only to find a childs plastic motor mower dangling from a tree branch!
Kerry Molloy
further to my above ,IIRCa few years ago some dag in kumara made a set of moa feet and some moa droppings(recycled sheeppoo -that'd cheer the greens up no end) and proceeded out on the taramakau riverbed to lay the trails of evidence! .Apparently that sucked a few media types in too!! God youve got to love that sense of humour alas so lacking in the woke whinger times!!
Glenda OBrien
Kerry Molloy Cant beat Kiwi humour!
Garry Jackson
Was a bit of a laugh when Jacqui G captured a live Moa up Moana way - had the Tv film Crew making the Headlines-ended up being a Mower HA HA....
Kay Bruce
One of Paddy's many yarns. He had some beauties. Wish I had written them down.
Jonathan Tough
Apparently they still out there at the bottom of the south island thers places humans haveint reached yet
Julia Bunting
The Mini is still around
Moira Price
Julia Bunting Ah, maybe the Moa is too...lol
Jak Roberts
Something tells me that Paddy was probably pixilated!!
Neet Liwile
He did it well
Phil Millar
Must have been something in the water?
Stuart Chapman
Remember Paddy, as a kid, I stayed at the lodge on a school excursion, was a lot of fun three days of rain and, tramping and Sandflys.
Arthur Bass
Paddy was a good bugger. As mentioned earlier he sure kissed the blarney stone on many occassions. Ex Brit SAS Man I believe.
Dave Lyes
Arthur Bass probably hunted by the British SAS, lol
Joy Meyer
I remember that. There was alot of media hype about the "moa"
Sceary Pahl
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story
Wally Osullivan
It was simply a publicity stunt to get patrons into his pub ( Bealys ), that he had recently purchased.
That is what he told me ( with a wink of the eye ) , anyway, Lol.
Steve Batey
Ray Stuart ( Lynda Stuart )
Stephanie Batey and i organised the "Moa Hunters Hot Rod Cruise" and stayover event at the Bealey Hotel in the late 90s, early 2000s. This had West Coast and East Coast Hot Rodders travelling to the Bealey for games, socialising and Moa spotting... none where sited but much fun had.
Dave Lyes
In competition with the Mahanipua Pub. They had a Sasquatch which used to nick his cabbages remember? They too had a Japanese film crew arrive.
Reefer Finch
Dave Lyes must of been there as there were no cabbages left in the garden
Dave Lyes
Reefer Finch I thought it was true, lol.
Wendy McDiarmid
There is a moa!
May be an image of 1 person and outdoors
Ken Auld
He had stilts with Moa feet and left foot prints in the mud by creek. people came from far and near
Paul Heal
The old bloke running the Mahindra pub got into the act as well by stating there was a Sasquatch coming out of the Bush and pinching his cabbages at night.
Paul Heal
Bloody predictive text! Should be Mahinapua pub!
Jakh Heremia
one way to drum up trade
Kevin Boyd
They finally cornered the
Moa in His friends shed at Moana didnt they?
Nera Doig
Yes is truth there
· Reply · 17m
Myron Caldwell
He even had film crews from Japan arrived. Perhaps he meant a moto mower. He was a character and arranged the reconstruction of one, did he not?
Dave Maitland
Yes Paddy was a good bugger always happy to have a yarn, tell a story
Anna Therese Webster
Yes remember he had Moa droppings displayed in the pub!! Great sense of humour
Lee Henderson
I met Paddy on a ski trip at 14 years old. He ran the Arthurs Pass lodge. We had to walk to and from Mt Dobson daily...and the hyginx tricks he played...he wore us out lol
That had to be after a few Guinness’s
Karen Potter
Gail Bradley he liked a few. Lol. Nice joker..
Euan Allott
Probably a Masport
Graham Porter
I remember it well , was a publicity stunt to get more buisness , and it worked.....lol
Graham Porter
The hotel is now closed down
Dave Dellow
Graham Porter The hotel is not closed.
Kerry Molloy
yes and Leo Molloy bought a van load of his customers from his fat ladies arms pub in palmy north(varsity students) to hunt Paddies moas .Ive still got the news article here .he even gave the dopey reporter a series of moa calls. in fact theres two on the hillside at the entrance to the Bealey pub and one at the Greymouth end of Otira! Euan -in response to you-many years ago a deer recovery crew flying in fiordland reported sighting a moa on one of their missions .anyhow news leaked out and as the story goes some hi faluting jap TV channel sent a crew out to nz to film this exciting discovery .yes they got flown in to where the sighting allegedly occurred only to find a childs plastic motor mower dangling from a tree branch!
Kerry Molloy
further to my above ,IIRCa few years ago some dag in kumara made a set of moa feet and some moa droppings(recycled sheeppoo -that'd cheer the greens up no end) and proceeded out on the taramakau riverbed to lay the trails of evidence! .Apparently that sucked a few media types in too!! God youve got to love that sense of humour alas so lacking in the woke whinger times!!
Glenda OBrien
Kerry Molloy Cant beat Kiwi humour!
Garry Jackson
Was a bit of a laugh when Jacqui G captured a live Moa up Moana way - had the Tv film Crew making the Headlines-ended up being a Mower HA HA....
Kay Bruce
One of Paddy's many yarns. He had some beauties. Wish I had written them down.
Jonathan Tough
Apparently they still out there at the bottom of the south island thers places humans haveint reached yet
Julia Bunting
The Mini is still around
Moira Price
Julia Bunting Ah, maybe the Moa is too...lol
Jak Roberts
Something tells me that Paddy was probably pixilated!!
Neet Liwile
He did it well
Phil Millar
Must have been something in the water?
Stuart Chapman
Remember Paddy, as a kid, I stayed at the lodge on a school excursion, was a lot of fun three days of rain and, tramping and Sandflys.
Arthur Bass
Paddy was a good bugger. As mentioned earlier he sure kissed the blarney stone on many occassions. Ex Brit SAS Man I believe.
Dave Lyes
Arthur Bass probably hunted by the British SAS, lol
Joy Meyer
I remember that. There was alot of media hype about the "moa"
Sceary Pahl
Never let the truth get in the way of a good story
Wally Osullivan
It was simply a publicity stunt to get patrons into his pub ( Bealys ), that he had recently purchased.
That is what he told me ( with a wink of the eye ) , anyway, Lol.
Steve Batey
Ray Stuart ( Lynda Stuart )
Stephanie Batey and i organised the "Moa Hunters Hot Rod Cruise" and stayover event at the Bealey Hotel in the late 90s, early 2000s. This had West Coast and East Coast Hot Rodders travelling to the Bealey for games, socialising and Moa spotting... none where sited but much fun had.
Dave Lyes
In competition with the Mahanipua Pub. They had a Sasquatch which used to nick his cabbages remember? They too had a Japanese film crew arrive.
Reefer Finch
Dave Lyes must of been there as there were no cabbages left in the garden
Dave Lyes
Reefer Finch I thought it was true, lol.
Wendy McDiarmid
There is a moa!
May be an image of 1 person and outdoors
Ken Auld
He had stilts with Moa feet and left foot prints in the mud by creek. people came from far and near
Paul Heal
The old bloke running the Mahindra pub got into the act as well by stating there was a Sasquatch coming out of the Bush and pinching his cabbages at night.
Paul Heal
Bloody predictive text! Should be Mahinapua pub!
Jakh Heremia
one way to drum up trade
Kevin Boyd
They finally cornered the
Moa in His friends shed at Moana didnt they?
Nera Doig
Yes is truth there
· Reply · 17m
Myron Caldwell
He even had film crews from Japan arrived. Perhaps he meant a moto mower. He was a character and arranged the reconstruction of one, did he not?
Dave Maitland
Yes Paddy was a good bugger always happy to have a yarn, tell a story
Anna Therese Webster
Yes remember he had Moa droppings displayed in the pub!! Great sense of humour
Lee Henderson
I met Paddy on a ski trip at 14 years old. He ran the Arthurs Pass lodge. We had to walk to and from Mt Dobson daily...and the hyginx tricks he played...he wore us out lol
Editing is temporarily disabled
Cancel EditClick on the image to add
a tag or press ESC to cancel
a tag or press ESC to cancel
West Coast New Zealand History (7th Jun 2021). Bealey Publican, Paddy Freaney 2001.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 25th May 2026 17:27, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/29340