Sport

The MAC First XV team secured their place in the Premiership division with a dominant 30 -10 win against the Combined Co-ed team last weekend.

MAC showed their intent from the kick off by dominating possession and Lock Harry Gilbertson soon found a way over the line to open up the scoring at 5-0 to MAC. The dominance continued throughout the half with tries to Olie Haines and Thomas Evans which saw MAC go into half time leading 15-0

Tries to Stian Langvik-Owen and another to Thomas Evans saw the lead extend to 25-0 before MAC let their intensity slip and the Combined team were able to get on the scoreboard with 2 tries in succession to take the score to 25 -10. That was as good as it got for the Combined team however and another MAC try by Dane Bowler put the result beyond doubt, sealing the win 30 points to 10.

The competition is about to get a lot more difficult for MAC as this weekend they travel to Dunedin to take on the competition leaders King High School.

– By Clint Hughes

PHOTO: Clint Hughes

Thomas Evans (MAC) on his way to the try line.

Disappointing loss to Wānaka Premiers

PHOTO: Aliena Seitz The free wellness event ran simultaneous workshops from 2 pm until the early hours of the evening. Local event makes yoga more accessible

Royals Will Turner about to score the opening goal as Wānaka players look on. Wānaka hosted newly crowned ODT Southern Premier League Champions South City Royals in round 3 of the ISPS Chatham Cup at the Wānaka Rec Centre last Saturday.

This was the fifth encounter of the season between the two sides and with Wānaka winning the last game 2-1 the Royals no doubt had a point to prove against the lower placed Wānaka.

The Royals early on showed a sharp and direct approach to their play that had Wānaka on the back foot and in the 20th minute a free kick which was deflected off the Wānaka wall and fell kindly to Will Turner who fired a low shot into the Wānaka net to give the Royals the early lead.

Wānaka then created their best chance of the half when a long ball found Brandon Dickson who fed Steve Pleskun who cut in from the right and looked to shoot but passed to Toa Roode. Roode looked to shoot but one touch too many led to the Royals defence robbing him of the ball. In the countering attack Wānaka Captain Thomas Van Hees intercepted the ball but lost possession and the Royals broke quickly to eventually score through their captain Conner Neil. 2 -0 to the Royals. This passage of play showed the difference between the two teams as the table topping Royals were clinical in key moments at both ends of the pitch while Wānaka lacked the cutting edge when it was needed most. With the final 10 minutes of the half winding down Royals scored twice when Will Turner hit a rasping volley on the turn after a missed place clearance from a Wānaka defender. Then Ryan Fleming finished from a similar position after Callan Rothmets crossed from the left wing and found the striker un marked at the far post. Wānaka’s defending of both these goals was poor to say the least. Half time 4-0.

The second half was an even affair as the Royals looked to see out the game and Wānaka had the unenviable task of trying to score 5 goals to win the one off cup game.

Wānaka continued a direct style of play approach but the Royals defence thwarted them and when Wānaka’s captain Van hees joined the attack for the last 25 minutes it was the Royals who looked dangerous on the counter attack .

Full time 4-0 to the Royals.

With the Chatham Cup run over Wānaka turn their attention to the ODT Premier league when they host Roslyn Waikari this Saturday 2.45pm kick off at the Wānaka Rec Center.

With just two rounds to play before the top 3 teams go in to a south island league and the bottom 5 play a new format the Wānaka team are looking to re group and get back to winning ways.

– By WAFC

PHOTO: South City Royals Daisy Watford

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

Over 100 people attended the Lake Wānaka Centre on Sunday 20 June, with their yoga mats in tow, for a free large-scale wellness event that aims to make yoga more accessible to the wider community.

The event, which coincided with the International Day of Yoga, consisted of a series of workshops led by local instructors and wellness practitioners.

Event organiser and Soul Yoga instructor, Keity Garcia, said that the event was a "huge success" with an unprecedented turnout. "We closed the registrations the day before, with 125 people registered and six workshops fully booked," she said.

The event welcomed people of all levels to take part in a series of yoga and wellness classes.

Garcia hopes that the annual event, alongside weekly community classes, will make Yoga more accessible. "Wellness is a profitable business but Wānaka's community is lucky to have several options of weekly koha yoga classes." "Sadly, we don't have a venue where we can teach free classes year round, which makes it more difficult for us to provide this service completely free of charge," she said.

According to Garcia, this was the first time that Wānaka has held a wellness event in this format. "This year, we offered more gentle classes and a couple of meditation sessions, bringing more calm and peace, counterbalancing our rushed daily lives," Garcia said.

Six local teachers, two osteopathic doctors, and five volunteers helped organise the event.

The team also raised money for St John and the Cancer Society.

The aim of the event was to bring people together "and create a sense of community."

The event encouraged people to feel better about themselves in a calm and stress free environment in order to improve both mental and physical health. "Lastly, it helps to show and educate the community that yoga is not only about the physical activity," Garcia said.

Garcia is already looking ahead to next year's event, which is set to be even bigger.

Toby's first fireworks

Daisy Watford

newsdesk@thewanakasun.co.nz

After a week of gloomy weather, I desperately search my brain (and google) for some creative indoor play ideas. Pre-Toby, I used to have this idyllic image of what working from home would look like. As you can probably guess, that image didn't involve unbrushed hair and never ending piles of laundry.

Top that off with a fair bit of rain, and it's safe to say that this week has come with a few challenges.

Although Tobias absolutely loves staring at the rain, there’s only so much we can do in this kind of weather.

Once he’s walking, I’m sure we’ll spend heaps of time splashing in the puddles, but, until that time comes, I'll have to start thinking outside the box a little more.

Since having a baby, I have realised how difficult it is to get around Wānaka without a car. My partner often needs our car for work which means that on days like today, it’s difficult to go anywhere. While that's fine for me, who would happily spend days in hibernation, it's not so good for Tobias, who can quickly develop a terrible case of cabin fever.

Bad weather aside, we somehow managed to make the week work.

Last Wednesday, we went to our first Mainly Music session in Hawea. Tobias absolutely loved this as it provided him with ample time to stare at older kids (just one of his many pastimes).

I have to say though, getting to these groups in time is a task in itself. Firstly, most of them start around the 9:30/10:00 mark, which is a common nap time for many of Toby's friends.

Secondly, if you have read last week's column then you will know that it already takes a long time for us to get out the door, especially at 9am in the morning!

At the weekend, Tobias experienced his very first Matariki celebrations.

In the late afternoon, on Saturday, we all went down to check out the festivities.

In Tobias' usual Tobias style, he didn't give much away. He watched his first haka performance before spotting the giant bubbles from the opposite side of the stage.

As a local band rocked out behind him, Tobias was more interested in the lights that hung from the trees.

Thankfully, we had brought along his ear defenders, as I'm not sure he would have handled it so well otherwise.

I feel the chill in the air and wonder if he feels it too. I notice the crowds of people and wonder if it's a bit overwhelming. I hear the various sounds and wonder if it's sensory overload.

Tobias, on the other hand, just takes it all in - figuring out the world for himself.

After about 45 minutes, though, we could see that it was time to make a move.

I was very hesitant as to how he would react to the explosive sounds of the fireworks that evening, especially considering that I jumped out

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Family outings are the best! of my skin during last year's display.

So, in an attempt not to scar him for life, we decided to watch the fireworks from home. Luckily, we could see them fairly well from our bedroom window despite a few tree obstructions.

When he encounters something for the first time, Tobias doesn't give very much away. But, as the higher fireworks soared up into the sky, he started to reach out for them.

Even though his bedtime was looming, his curiosity had been sparked. In fact, we spent more time watching his reactions than the display itself.

So, thankfully, Toby's first fireworks was a tear free experience, and the week itself was pretty productive despite the weather.

I say this after a day of very little activity. A day where we didn't go outside and I didn't make an effort to come up with a fun-filled activity. A day where I spent a lot of time trying to work and little time playing.

My mum0guilt creeps in as I tell myself "Tomorrow will be different."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Where have all the roses gone?

I am writing in reply to June Turnbull’s letter regarding the missing roses. Before the roundabout was finished they were temporarily moved to the late Peter Rennie’s property in Golf Links Road and were later replanted by the Wānaka Garden Circle on the bank overlooking Bullock Creek near the Dinosaur Park and what didn’t fit in there, were planted beside the Arts Centre. My wife Sally and I were part of the Garden Circle team that was involved.

The roses were special as they were bred by Sam McGredy a famous rose breeder.

Ian Gazzard

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Animal poisons

This week we learn that NZ's scientists are experimenting with poison from the Tutu plant to manufacture a product to kill rats. The promoter of the idea is Shaun Ogilvie. He and Charles Eason are major partners in the Connovation company. A group of Landcare scientists involved in producing evidence to support the use of 1080 saw fortunes being made from the production of 1080 baits. They formed their own company in order to manufacture their own poison baits hoping to capture a big slice of the animal control market. They began making their own poison products and put them forward for approval from the Environment Protection Agency for their release into the environment. Twenty years later they still haven't cracked the market and, from sheer frustration, in 2015 we learned that one of Charlie and Shaun's associates had threatened to put 1080 powder into baby food products unless the use of 1080 was banned.

Tens of millions of dollars per year supports the science behind our use of animal poisons but not a government penny has been given to research into the design of possum traps.

Shaun tells us that a dose of Tutu will kill a rat in half an hour, this is a somewhat shorter time than most rat poisons take to kill and Shaun expects this fact will persuade people to think his research into this poison is worth funding.

Our government has stipulated that any product which takes more than ten minutes to kill will be deemed inhumane and therefore unacceptable. Well Shaun, old chap, a half hour death is just as Inhumane as one that takes 3 hours, 3 days or 3 weeks. By this reckoning all of the rat poisons now in use are inhumane, they all cause secondary poisoning and their residues may stay in the environment for years. They have all been approved for release by the Environment Protection Agency. How many more new rat poisons do we need? Surely all these scientist brains can be put to better use.

John Veysey