Loving life at the Waitaki lakes
A place to get away from it all can also be a place where romance blossoms as Herald reporter Al Williams discovered when he delved into holiday camping lifestyles at the popular Waitaki lakes in the South Island.
Corina Bond was 17 when she met her future husband, Russell, while camping at Parsons Rock on the shores of Lake Aviemore.
‘‘I started going to that camping spot when I was 12,’’ she said.
‘‘Russell and I lived in different towns, we started going out together the year we met and it has never stopped.
‘‘We have been back here most years and our children have been camping since they were babies.’’
The Bonds are one of hundreds of families that descend on the lakes – Waitaki, Aviemore and Benmore – created when the hydropower schemes were built on the Waitaki River from the 1930s to 1965.
Demand for the camping sites skyrocketed in 2020. With borders closed because of Covid-19, Kiwis planned more traditional summer holiday trips, causing headaches for authorities who have had to deal with a number of disputes as camping grounds reached capacity early in the season.
The Waitaki District Council, which shares governing duties with the Waimate District Council at the campsites on either side of the lakes, said season tickets for three of its camping areas – Falstone Creek, Sailors Cutting and Boat Harbour – sold out in November.
‘‘It is one of the last low-cost camping options for the average Kiwi, it is a pretty cheap holiday.
‘‘For under $500 you can stay from September to Easter,’’ Waimate mayor Craig Rowley said.
‘‘My happy place’’
Corina Bond said the area was ‘‘one place where I actually can relax’’.
‘‘We don’t have televisions, we do have a portable shower and toilet. ‘‘We just eat, drink and relax. ‘‘The girls love it and it is close to home [Oamaru] and a lot of other places.
‘‘I just class it as my happy place, it is just good for the soul.’’
The Bonds’ setup is very much a
‘‘We have been back here most years and our children have been camping since they were babies.’’
Corina Bond
are ready and if somebody is in our favourite spot we go somewhere else, it is first in, first served,’’ Isabell said.
’’Personally Covid-19 has not affected our camping holiday but I would say there are a lot more Kiwis holidaying at home and I would say that is why some campgrounds have been sold out this year.’’
Isabell said camping was something her young family could afford.
‘‘We bought a tent and progressed to a caravan.
‘‘We then got a boat and taught the boys to water ski; when they got to the point where they were on single skis they found Lake Middleton was a bit small.’’
The family then moved to Parsons Rock but since retiring they have been camping at Boat Harbour.
Their sons, now 50, 48 and 44 still camp with them from time to time.
‘‘It is definitely a family affair,’’ she said.
The goal of Temuka’s newest fulltime ambulance officers is to boost response times and ease the pressure on the town’s two paramedics and team of volunteers.
Temuka is the third town in the region, after Timaru and Waimate, to benefit from St John’s nationwide double-crewing rollout – which aims to give everyone access to direct clinical care en route to a hospital – with the appointment of Stacey Wilton and Steve Burgess.
‘‘Double-crewing in Temuka has been a huge, positive change for our community and for the other staff members as well,’’ Wilton said.
Wilton joined St John more than four years ago, while Burgess has close to 30 years experience in the service. They were stationed in Temuka on December 14 and work alternate 12-hour shifts of four days on, four days off.
Double-crewing boosted response times and allowed ambulance officers to support one another when ‘‘things turn to custard’’, Wilton
said.
‘‘We can go to the patient and fully complete the job, without having to call another ambulance,’’ she said.
‘‘I can’t imagine working on my own for all the time that they [Temuka] did,’’ Wilton said.
Burgess said improving resources through double-crewing had led to an increase in callouts.
‘‘Temuka has always been sent to code purple or red emergency calls, but that could have meant staying with the patient until a doublecrewed ambulance arrived minutes later and took over.’’
Wilton worked administration at a Geraldine supermarket before an ambulance trip with her 4-year-old daughter, Kherrah, who suffered a febrile event, set her life on a new course about five years ago.
‘‘I went from a skirt and heels to trousers and steel-capped boots,’’ the 38-year-old mother-of-five said.
Wilton never considered volunteering for St John until the driver taking her daughter to the hospital recommended it, but six 20 months later she had completed her first responder training and joined the Geraldine branch.
She has since completed a New Zealand Diploma in Ambulance Services, and was studying towards a Bachelor of Health Science in paramedicine.
When Timaru introduced double-crewing in 2017, she took a fulltime job at the branch and moved to Temuka to be close to both work and her hometown.
Working as an ambulance officer in Temuka was ‘‘where I’m meant to be’’, Wilton said.
Meanwhile, Burgess’ wife volunteered him for the Temuka St John branch in July 1991, and he ‘‘got the bug’’.
‘‘It’s a good way of meeting people, and it’s very rewarding when you save someone and make a difference.’’
He had been appointed the Temuka station manager twice and served as a South Canterbury volunteer support officer for a number of years, before taking a fulltime position in Timaru in 2012.