KEPPOCH B & B - Homestay - Ashburton - New Zealand

Newsletter & Events - Ashburton NZ

Ashburton Antics from Valmai - Apr 2004

To Come:
The Big Day Out for farmers to see the newest in farm machinery being tested, is on 20th April and is attracting much interest.
The town is underway with plans for Wheels Week: should be fun with activities from wheel chair races to car sprints to spinning demonstrations.
The Walking Festival has an added attraction this year with a trip to "middle earth"at MtPotts to the site of the filming of Lord of the Rings-walking some of the distance and bus the rest.
Ski season the 5th June opening.

Whats Been:
Minerals to Art: very well supported with more than 5000 people over the weekend.Workshops were well attended.During the week at least 1500 students from local schools attended on field trips.
One student had a rare find-a fossilised fully intact shark's tooth,about 2cm in length."Amazing" was how he described it, and more so when it was found the tooth was probably deposited in the limestone 25-30 million years ago!
Both Mayfield and Methven A&P Shows were special events on brilliantly fine days.An attraction at Mayfield were the pig racers,"porkers in tutus" delighting the crowd.Methven had a new shearing pavilion opened that day at the showgrounds,but also a whip cracking demo showed skill and precision
On the 7th March, teddies and their owners had a "teddy-bears picnic" at the Ashburton Domain with various sizes, shapes, colours and state of condition bears. 300 people found it a fun way to enjoy an outing with their friends.
Stage one of a multi-million redevelopment of the former Supervalue supermarket was opened on 8th March, with the first shop open for business. The Riverside Veterinary moved it's small animal and retail side there:the business includes a pet shop with small animals and fish for sale.
Tinwald has been in the news with the Tinwald Primary School's 125th anniversary celebrated. Also the Parish of the St Andrews Anglican church celebrated 125 years of active worship and participation in the area.
Lake Hood activities have been ongoing over the summer with water sports and family recreation. The schools rowing teams have competed with some success in the inter-school rowing regattas -as this is a relatively new sport in the area, it has been pleasing to see the Lake contributing in the lives of the young people in the area, with it's locality.