Lilybank Safari Lodge was a trail breaking business established to provide hunting opportunity for visiting hunters. Gary Joll (with his business partners) purchased Lilybank Station and the pastoral lease that went with it, with government approval, to operate a hunting business. Almost before the ink was dry some sections of the government had changed their mind and tried to stop Gary in his attempts to set up a tourist hunting business, which at its peak generated millions of dollars in overseas earning for New Zealand. As a pioneer of tourist hunting and a dedicated hunter himself this is a very personal story about one man's dream that in spite of the obstacles placed in his way by government departments succeeded and became the model for most of the tourist hunting operations today. Gary was the first president of the New Zealand Professional Guides Association, and has been honoured by Safari Club International on several occasions.