Bubble-breaker rock climbers called out

Rock climbers have been caught flouting coronavirus lockdown rules at a popular crag in Golden Bay.

They included a group of 10 climbers from Nelson and Motueka found climbing at the Paynes Ford site last week, ignoring requests to stop.

Another was adventure documentary star Matheson Brown, whose climbing at the popular site while he serves his lockdown in the region has caused a stir in the Golden Bay community and on social media.

Brown, 23, became the youngest Kiwi to hike the Appalachian Trail, a 3500 kilometre trek across eastern America. His documentary, Operation Northbound: Appalachian Trail, has been viewed almost 200,000 times.

However, his Paynes Ford climbs during lockdown have upset locals.

Hangdog Camp manager Troy Stevenson, reported Brown to police last Sunday.

‘‘It’s a small ask really, to stay home for a few weeks to save lives,’’ he said.

Stevenson had seen about a dozen rock climbers at Paynes Ford over the last week climbing, including a large group of friends in three cars who had travelled at least 60km to climb the popular crag.

Last week on Friday, Stevenson came across a group of 10 rock climbers from the Motueka and Nelson areas who had travelled over Takaka Hill to climb the Paynes Ford crag. ‘‘I went and told them they can’t be doing this, and they said they could basically do what they liked,’’ he said.

Stevenson doubted they were ‘‘part of a bubble’’ together.

Brown said he looked up the Government’s lockdown rules, and read that people could drive nearby to exercise as long as they minimised unnecessary risk in their sporting activities. He didn’t have far to drive from his campsite in Golden Bay, he said.

A Department of Conservation worker had also told him the day before lockdown that Paynes Ford would stay open. For all these reasons, he assumed it was OK to keep climbing.

He had even changed from lead climbing to top rope climbing to minimise the risk of falling to zero, he said.

‘‘I just spoke to the police and they explained it was unlawful ... I get that now. We have well and truly decided we can’t go climbing anymore.’’