The Timaru Herald
25 Mar 2020
Joanne Holden
pressreader.com/the-timaru-herald
Roselyn Fauth with a new scavenger hunt for Caroline Bay as a way for people to get outside during self-isolation. The peruvian pepper tree on the piazza beside her is an item to find on the hunt.
Keeping spirits up as New Zealand goes into lockdown is the aim of a new scavenger hunt around Timaru.
Roselyn and Chris Fauth, cofounders of WuHoo Timaru, a voluntary organisation promoting free fun activities around town, launched their Caroline Bay Hunt this week.
It encourages families to explore the area around the Bay and ‘‘get some very important Vitamin D’’.
‘‘I think people have to protect not just their physical health, but mental health,’’ Roselyn Fauth said.
‘‘If you are able to practise social distancing, I don’t see why people can’t do this. You don’t have to touch anything, just walk around in the fresh air.’’
Challenges of the hunt included exploring the Bay’s history by finding a series of plaques, and 22 games of ‘‘I Spy’’.
‘‘If it’s safe to be outside then that’s something we would like to inspire people to do. And it all goes towards us celebrating an amazing gem: Caroline Bay.’’
The couple spent the weekend handing out about 1000 activity sheets to Timaru District Council facilities – but with those closed down as the Covid-19 alert level is ramped up, would-be scavengers are encouraged to download the hunt from wuhootimaru.co.nz.
Fauth said the council had been supportive of the hunt, providing funding to print the activity sheets and allowing the couple to promote it around town.
The couple had been working on the hunt for the past year and testing it with their daughters, 5-year-old Medinella and 16-month-old Annabelle.
Fauth said Medinella had come up with a few of her own challenges.
‘‘That’s the ultimate if people are inspired to make their own free play,’’ she said.
‘‘People can teach their kids how to read a map so there’s practical skills, and it’s all about spending more time together as a family.
‘‘There is so much to learn.’’ They intended to launch it during the school holidays, originally set for April 10 to 27, but the escalating situation with the worldwide pandemic saw them bring the date forward.
‘‘We were in a bit of a rush to get it to the printers.’’
Fauth said the idea for the hunt was born from Timaru Rocks, another WuHoo initiative where people paint rocks and hide them in public places for others to find.
‘‘People really enjoyed the hunt side of it.’’