The new generation of Kaitaia's hunters and gatherers endured extreme wintry conditions to take part in the second annual Pompallier Catholic School Hunting and Fishing Competition last weekend.
The event began at Friday at 3pm and ran until the final weigh-in on Sunday closed at 2pm with contestants trying to win a prize with one of the best three weights in all or any of six categories: snapper, kahawai, live eel, sprat, duck (paradise and mallard) and possum. While there were two divisions, the focus was on the children - i.e. competitors ranging in age from 5 to 14 - rather than adults. Thus, of the estimated 98 samples weighed in overall by the 112 individuals who took part, only four were by adults (those aged over 14). Event organiser Michelle Mill suspected this was because a few dads gave what they caught to their kids to weigh in. She said the event was all about "promoting family-orientated entertainment" in customary northern style.
"Our families love it because our dads are out there. Normally it's the mums who do all the fundraising. [This is about] Whole families going fishing and hunting and, in many cases, camping overnight with their kids."
The event raised approximately $1500 which will be put towards a variety of projects at the school including increasing the current shade space and building a new deck on to the library. While bigger than last year's contest in terms of participant numbers, fewer animals were weighed in this time around, possibly partly due to the bitterly cold snap which hit New Zealand last week, the presence of which could still be felt at the prizegiving held in the large carpark in front of the Hunting and Fishing Store at the north end of Kaitaia's main street on Sunday.
Mill noted organisers were able to fin- tune a few things having become better at troubleshooting the second time around, thanked the event's major sponsors including local auctioneer Brad Jackson and Barry and Shona Judd, and said she hoped the contest would continue in her absence (Mill admitted she was sad to leave the area at the end of the term to take up a tenure as principal of a school in Hillsborough, Auckland after 10 years in the north but was looking forward to being closer to family and taking up a new challenge).
The top placegetters were as follows. Duck, mallard: Cullen Wild 1.43kg (i.e. heaviest/ 1st), Milan Carey 1.35 (runner up), Ash Lucich 1.16, (3rd placegetter); paradise: McVay Lloyd 1.69, Aiobhinn Price 1.67, Caolan Price 1.61; and average weight Caleb Ujdur.
Possum: Danielle Wintraecken 3.08, Calista Shanks 3.05, McVay Lloyd 2.98, average: Caleb Jordan. Eels: Caleb Jordan 6.60, Amelia Morris 5.31, Carlos Norman 4.88, average: Riley Jackson.
Kahawai: Corbin Thorpe 2.09, Lily Curel 2.05, Skylah Robson 2.01, average Keanu Kopae. Snapper, adult: Rangi Lewis Campbell 5.05, Pete Hewitt 2.91; kids: Tubbs Boys 3.42, Riley Jackson 3.25, Charlotte Thorpe 3.03, average Frano Cherrington.
Sprat: Skylah Robson0.08. Adult paradise duck: Billy Pitchford 1.87, Zane Lucich 1.55.