Great Kiwi Kid Pastimes

It’s nearly time for us to leave the family & this cold southern winter behind and head for warmer climes. And wouldn't; you know it, right on queue, the sun has now decided to made an appearance. But we will not be tricked, I know it’ll only be for a day or two, we’ve had nearly 3 weeks of cold, windy, wet &/or overcast days with just the odd day of sunshine thrown in. It hasn’t mattered too much as we’ve had another lovely time catching up with the family, although as it’s not the school holidays, we’ve had a bit more time to ourselves tucked up in the cosy warmth of our little home on wheels. This has been fine as we both had a list of chores to do while in the city and I’ve also managed to sort out a lot of my photos and a few issues on my laptop. No cabin fever so far!

Ollie & Ruby are now into winter sports and we went along to watch them play rugby one Saturday morning. This is “grass-roots” rugby, where future All Blacks begin their dreams of the big time. Ruby is 4 years old and there are 6 girls in her team. The coaches & referee just about out number the players on the field while proud parents & grandparents watch & encourage from the sideline.

The small fry play “Rippa Rugby”, it’s very safe and non-contact and easy to play for both boys and girls. It's great for their ball skills & running exercise. The players wear material tags that are velcroed to a belt, one at each side. The opposition players pull the tag off rather than tackle the player with the ball, which is then passed onto the opposition. I’m not sure some have grasped the concept though as I did spot one little guy rip the tag off his own team mate. The kids look so cute in their miniature uniforms with oversized shirts & huge numbers. I give it a 10/10 for the entertainment factor alone; watching the kids run the wrong way, take their time to pick up the ball, chat to a friend on the sideline, compare clothes or walk off to talk to Mum or Dad had me laughing out loud for most of the game,

Team talk

“GO RUBY, run Ruby!”

Missed & it’s a try! Ruby scored three tries during her game.

Dreaming of the try line…..

The Opposition

Comparing boots (it's a girl thing). Kicking for goal.

High fives for the opposition, learning the etiquette of team sports.

Next up was Ollie who is now playing the real game, although a little tentatively. This game was meant to be eight aside but I think the boys on the bench were keen to not miss out (from both sides!)

“Go Ollie” – I like the parent on his cellphone in the background or maybe it was an All Black selector in disguise checking out the up and coming talent.

No subtlety in the line out, Ollie says “Yeah, give it to him”, the boy behind says no “Me, me, me!”

This past weekend we all went fishing, Ollie & Ruby had new fishing rods that they were eager to try out. Over Easter they had been fishing with handlines off the wharf on Stewart Island and had caught a bucket load of fish, including Blue Cod. They’d now moved up to rods and Ollie especially, was keen to go fishing. Monday was a holiday and unfortunately it dawned wet & cold but Ollie was determined to go and when the rain cleared later in the morning we packed up lunch and headed to Riverton, about 30 minutes south of Invercargill.

Embracing the great outdoors! A picnic lunch done the Southern way; wrapped up warm in many layers. The wind was very cold & the rain promising to return. This is at the mouth of the Riverton estuary.

Poppa set up the rods with spinners on them and the kids had a few casts. Ollie managed it very well but Ruby soon lost interest preferring to play in the water and beachcomb. We had to explain to them that catching a fish was nowhere near guaranteed and some days you wouldn’t catch anything but I think they still thought that the fish would just jump out of the water & land at their feet like they did on Stewart Island.

After awhile, with nothing caught but seaweed, we decided to move to the Riverton wharf. We stopped at the shop to buy some bait and Poppa changed the gear over on the rods & they were set to fish again. Ollie had success on his first wind in; a pipi (NZ shellfish) liked the look of his bait and in turn became bait itself.

Unfortunately the rain then set in and the bitter cold wind turned into a bitterly cold wind.

Just after we said 10 minutes more and we’ll call it quits, Ollie couldn’t wind in his line. Poppa took over & he nearly couldn’t wind it in either. There was a dead weight on the other end, was it snagged? No, it moved a little. The rod nearly bent double & David thought it might break but slowly & surely he wound it in accompanied by much excitement & encouragement from us all. As Rachel was leaning over the edge trying to manoeuvre the tiny net around its tail the hook and weights went flying and the fish disappeared back into the murky water. Lucky escape!

The rain was getting heavier but the hunt was on, we’ll fish for another 20 minutes. And sure enough within 5 minutes there was another dead weight on the line. This time it was netted. But what was it? It seemed to be a very big fish to be catching off the wharf. I only ever remember catching sprats. This was a fish a kid could be proud of.

We thought it might have been a catfish at first but then realised it was more likely to be a red cod. Which in fact it was. We decided to return it to the water, a good exercise in “catch & release” for the kids & more importantly & the truth being known, no need for a smelly mess if Poppa had to fillet it. We’ve since found out that Red Cod aren’t that nice to eat, being bottom feeders they are often full of worms, their flesh turns to mush when cooked too. They are also “despised” because they don’t put up any fight or resistance when hooked, hence the dead weight & non-movement. We didn’t mind though, they provided a whole heap of excitement on an otherwise miserable day.

And of course the kids now think you do catch a fish everytime you go fishing.

The Riviera of the South

With a break in the weather yesterday; it’s been on & off wind, rain & sun for a few days now, we took a trip with the family over to Western Southland to visit what is known as the Riviera of South, a rather grand name for Riverton. It really is a misnomer though because even though it’s a great little seaside town straddling a large estuary & river I don’t think it can quite compare with the real thing. I think it’s said by Southerners with tongue firmly planted in their cheek.

I’ll come back to Riverton though because we drove on through the town & on past Colac Bay heading for a special beach further along the coast, the wild & windswept Orepuki Beach better known by its more common name, Gemstone Beach.

It’s here at low tide that people come to beachcomb for semi-precious gemstones. The beach goes through a constant change from sand to stones with the storms & tides and gems such as garnet, jasper, quartz & nephrite can often be found exposed on the tide line. But not today, there were quite a number of people out looking but it was mostly sand and the tide was on its way in sending white foaming waves far up the beach.

A fast flowing tannin stained stream cut our walk off, we were worried it would be hard to cross back once the tide came in.

We found this “man cave/blokes shed/treehouse” fascinating, it had a large carved out hole as a window overlooking the beach  with quite an elaborately built roof, cobblestone floor, walls & glass windows on the inside underneath a huge windswept tree. Someone had spent quite a bit of time designing & building it, maybe a “get away from it all” fishing bachelor pad out in the middle of nowhere.

With no gemstones on offer & the wind picking up we headed back to Colac Bay to have lunch on the foreshore. Colac Bay is famous for its surfing & and just to make certain you know this, there’s a huge concrete surfer at the entrance to the bay. I didn’t get a chance to shoot it from the front so you only get to see him from this angle!

After lunch the kids explored the rocks and along the beach. This photo is thanks to Cameron who has the same phone as me, he reminded me of the panoramic mode which I used here taking a 180 degree shot of Colac Bay.

We then headed back to Riverton leaving via the far end of the bay. And this end is obviously where the surf break happens, there were a couple dozen surfers catching waves and dozens of cars parked & people watching from the beach including an older couple who were very comfy, settled in their bean bags.

We drove around the edge of the Jacobs River Estuary, past the rickety old wharfs and the Coastguard building which was located in an unusual but obviously ideal spot, to the beach.

The river outlet was deep & swift and I’d probably say the bar at the entrance is dangerous in the wrong winds hence the need for the coastguard to be so close.

The kids had a play at the playground just before the beach and overlooking the holiday settlement.

Whale Riders

We then drove around to the Riverton Rocks which are located in a large scenic reserve at Taramea Point. On our way back, I stopped to take some shots of the Spotted Shags (Parekareka) that were battling the elements on their favourite rock (I know it was favourite by how much poop was on it!)

Turn the other cheek

"I'm outta here"

Next, the kids had a swim back at the beach & we got an icecream from what must have been the busiest dairy in the town! And no wonder it was popular, the icecreams were huge!

Across the road from the dairy was the Riverton Soundshell looking very forlorn & forgotten. What a shame, not too long ago this place would have been alive with concerts & activities, the centre of many people’s summer holidays. An old blackboard covering one of the side buildings advertised “sausages $1”

Just out of town is the very colourful Riverton Racecourse, the locals obviously have a passion for horse racing going by how large, well maintained & colourful the four grandstands & course are.