40 THE UNLIKELY KIWI
Lochie
the Lochmara Doggy The Unlikely Kiwi has been spending many hours reading with the kids this term, so we thought we would share a clever Lochmara childrens story for you to read with yours. The Unlikley Kiwi x Lochie had lost his stick! He had spent most of the morning trying to remember where he’d left it! Yesterday he had found it on the beach. On Tuesday it was on the terrace next to the restaurant. On Monday he had cleverly hidden it behind a large Punga Tree. It was a very special stick that he’d discovered on one of his daily walks up to the Queen Charlotte Track. He very much liked the view from the top of the hill, where he had a friend called Wicky Weka. Wicky was not very keen on swimming and only visited Lochmara once a week to collect small objects and colourful things that he could hide in the bush. He particularly liked shoelaces, especially if they were red! ‘You’re all wet!’ said Wicky the Weka.
‘The thing is that I’m supposed to be the guard dog and that involves making sure that nothing goes missing including my stick and the guests property.’
‘I’ve been swimming,’ replied Lochie. ‘And now I can’t find my favourite stick!’
Wicky gazed down the hill towards the water, his eyes widened and then suddenly he said, ‘Ow look, there’s your stick floating in the water!’
‘Well you could just get new stick,’ suggested Wicky.
‘Where?’ shouted Lochie.
‘It wouldn’t be the same,’ said Lochie staring at the shoe that Wicky was trying to drag up the hill.
‘There just to the left of the jetty!’
‘I’ll help you find your old stick as soon I get my new shoe up this hill,’ announced Wicky who had a bright red shoelace in his mouth. ‘Oh dear,’ sighed Lochie. ‘You really have to stop taking the guests shoes!’ ‘Yes but they all appear to have two shoes each and I was thinking that they would be okay with just one and in any case, I don’t want the shoe, just the shoelace, because it’s red and I like red very much!’ ‘Humans have two feet, in case you haven’t noticed. What do you think they will do with one shoe? Hop 70km along the Queen Charlotte Track?’ ‘Well – Yes!’ replied Wicky. ‘Whilst it would be rather funny to watch humans hopping everywhere, you really have to take it back,’ insisted Lochie. ‘Oh well, if I have too!’ complained Wicky.
‘I can’t see it,’ Lochie exclaimed. ‘You better be quick or it will get carried away by the tide and end up in Wellington where some other dog will find it.’ Lochie ran as fast as he could all the way down the hill and made a very big splash as he landed in the water next to the jetty. Wicky the Weka smiled and continued up the hill, dragging his new shoe and red shoelace. School holidays and the mild Autumn weather are the perfect combination for a trip over to Lochmara, Create your own Lochmara story and try some of these fun things to do. ❑ View the marine life below the surface in the Underwater Observatory - guided daily tours at set times. ❑ Hand-feed the Kakariki parakeets, NZ native eels, pigs, and chickens, and Stingrays
❑ Explore the waters of Lochmara Bay with free use of the kayaks ❑ Free use of the stand-up paddle boards ❑ Hike to the Queen Charlotte Track - 2 hour return walk ❑ Explore the bushwalks around the property ❑ Star-gazing at night. A fantastic place to view the stars ❑ Play on the beach which is also safe for swimming ❑ Have a game of quoits or petanque ❑ Relax in one of more than 40 hammocks at Lochmara ❑ Soak or treat yourself to a massage in the wonderful Bath House ❑ Walk through the glow worm grotto (night only) ❑ Go swimming in the phosphorescence (night only) ❑ Spot native birdlife ❑ Relax in front of the fire in our lounge area, with a book from the in-house library ❑ Visit the art exhibition spaces and learn about New Zealand art ❑ See how life used to be in the rustic Crumpy’s Camp and replica Whare.
