Success is getting what you want; happiness is liking what you get

Monday 19 January 2015

Fun and Games at Kahutura School

It was Barry and Diane’s first time at being rally captains, and they did very well.  They are a fit and active couple, and not only did they brave the school swimming pool over the weekend, we watched in awe and they went for a run together up the country road.  So it was no surprise when they planned a sporting activity  to get us all up and moving around for a bit of exercise. 

P1180011   Barry and his special caravan tee shirt

The wind never stopped blowing all weekend.  The golf practice on the agenda listed as “Bucket and Chips” became “Tyre and Chips”, as the plastic buckets would have blown away around the school grounds long before we landed any golf balls anywhere near it.  Luckily there was a heap of old tyres laying under a tree, and these were called into service.  We were put into teams of three, the non golfers were given a little tuition, and then away we went. 

P1180016 Watch out, Lydia

P1180009 Two teams trying their hand at chipping

The aim was to chip the ball into the tyre for 2 points, and we received 1 point for just hitting the tyre.  With golf balls going every which way, it was not as easy as we thought.  Even the experienced golfers didn’t find it very easy.   The pair of us were placed in different teams, and much to our surprise, did very well.  Robin’s mixed team came first, and my ladies team came second – how about that!

P1180021 Robin concentrating on his shot.

Meeting in the hall in the evening, we took part in a musical quiz which Barry had put together.  Music from the 50s to 70s, which hopefully we would be able to recall.  Once again, we were put into teams, this time with our spouses and another couple, and armed with paper and pen, started concentrating.  We blitzed the field with “Match the Lead Singer with the Group”, and only lost two points with “Match the Artist’s Name with the Backing Group”.  Not a bad start at all.  It was not so easy when we were played the musical introduction of TV show from the old days, although Morecombe and Wise and The Avengers were easy enough to pick.  Then we were played snippets of songs which had colour in the title.  Who can remember Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces, and The Purple People Eater?  We could.

P1180029  Diane and Barry ready to play the music

We were also kept entertained with some tree felling going on in the school grounds one day over the weekend.  It was hot and windy, and the bloke worked away hard with his chain saw, cutting a scarf out of the wood this way, then the other.  There must be some reason why he was cutting at head height, perhaps he was coming back later to deal with the stumps.

P1160034 Starting to cut

P1168533 There it goes

Kahutura School has a long history in the area and the school opened in 1898.  The original school building is a New Zealand Historic Places Trust Registered Building.  The school has changed dramatically since then and now has multiple buildings, a swimming pool, a large hall, and a well equipped playground.  We saw a lovely old photo in the hall of pupils outside the school in the early years.

P1160051 Kahutura School and pupils

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