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 sti ck! 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 sti ck that
he’d discovered on one of his daily walks up to the
Queen Charlott e 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 parti cularly 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 sti ck and the
guests property.’
‘I’ve been swimming,’ replied Lochie. ‘And now I
can’t fi nd my favourite sti ck!’ Wicky gazed down the hill towards the water, his
eyes widened and then suddenly he said, ‘Ow
look, there’s your sti ck fl oati ng in the water!’
‘Well you could just get new sti ck,’ 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 jett y!’
‘I’ll help you fi nd your old sti ck 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 noti ced.
What do you think they will do with one shoe? Hop
70km along the Queen Charlott e 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 bett er be quick or it will get carried away by
the ti de and end up in Wellington where some
other dog will fi nd 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 jett y.
Wicky the Weka smiled and conti nued up the
hill, dragging his new shoe and red shoelace.
School holidays and the mild Autumn weather
are the perfect combinati on 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 fi re 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.