CHB joins rock hunting craze
Children in CHB could be just as likely to be hunting for decorated rocks as chocolate eggs this Easter long weekend.
Like much of the rest of the country, CHB has joined in the craze of families painting and decorating rocks and then hiding them in popular parks and destinations for others to find them.
Donna Jones, an administrator of a Central Hawke’s Bay Rocks page created on Facebook earlier this year, said while there was nothing special planned for Easter, she suspected members would be creating Easter-themed rocks in time for the weekend.
She said the rocks could be found in many of CHB’s parks and scenic reserves.
“The rocks seem to be spread pretty much everywhere, with Nelly Jull Park, A’Deanes Park/Bush, Russell Park and Lindsay Bush being the main and favourite places,” she said.
The CHB Facebook page is based on the Palmerston North Palmy Rocks group, which in turn was inspired by an article on the original group formed in Kitsap County in Washington in the US.
With 6600 members Palmy Rocks is perhaps the biggest group in New Zealand, followed by Hamilton’s Tron Rocks group with 5776 members. Agroup called Hawke’s Bay Rocks is not far behind, with 4609 members.
The rock-painting-and-hiding craze started clogging people’s newsfeeds earlier this year and Donna said it looked like it would continue for some time.
“Central Hawke’s Bay Rocks currently has 213 members and is slowly growing each day, and Palmy Rocks is not showing any signs of slowing down.”
Donna said the objective of the CHB page was to inspire people to “get creative and out exploring with their families”.
While there had been robust debate on other pages about the etiquette of rock finding and re-hiding, Donna simply preferred to leave it up to each individual person or family.
“It is up to the finder if they want to rehide at the same location, re-hide it at another location or take it home,” she said.
Basic rules for rock-painting and hiding:
Make sure rocks don’t have anything stuck to them which could become litter.
If using acrylic poster paint, use a sealer over the top to make sure the paint stays on.
Make sure rocks are hidden in a place where they won’t get in the way of city council mowers or gardeners.
Out of respect to families and their loved ones, cemeteries are off limits.