Editor’s letter

If you’d told me I was going to spend Wednesday morning this week curling, I would have said stop pulling my leg. But that’s exactly what I was doing. And I don’t mean curling my hair with Ghds – but wearing a crochet beanie and pushing big, round stones down a long, icy sheet at a bullseye, with manic sweeping and lots of yelling, just like in the Winter Olympics – only really badly. Man, it was fun.

Yes, I found myself quite by surprise at the International Indoor Curling Rink in the little town of Naseby. I was on a mystery tiki tour with fine folk from Webstar, who print Woman’s Day, and I was thrilled to be introduced to the delights of Central Otago for the first time. I’d never been to this beautiful part of the world and was smitten.

First stop was the pretty little town – and by little, I mean teeny-weeny – of Ophir. Or Ophir Awesome, as the T-shirts say. Population 60. I fell for this charming, old, gold rush-era village with its stone buildings, cute cottages and “cribs”, gorgeous gardens and good southern hospitality. It might be small, but the fine food and friendliness at Pitches Store and Blacks Hotel was world class.

After curling in nearby Naseby, we warmed up at the Ancient Briton Hotel, where a dog lay sleeping in front of a roaring fire, a cat curled up on cushions and barman Adrian made us feel right at home. He filled us in on the history of this old town – and filled us up with hearty tipples and whitebait fritter sandwiches. And I was so chuffed he’d bought the latest Woman’sDay all the way down there in Naseby, population 100 – I blushed!

After sunny days, there was suddenly a cold snap on Wednesday afternoon, and we all prayed for snow and a lock in at the pub! But we were back in busy Auckland that evening. Central Otago stole a little piece of my heart this week – and I just want to say thank you for your hospitality!