Ernie Johnstone reckons the 36 metre green is their secret weapon!

When most of us Kiwis think about New Zealand’s best of the best, they think of Queenstown or Milford Sound or Mt Cook or Rotorua or the Bay of Islands.

They’re all beautiful spots.  But one spot we also need to have on our bucket list is the Catlins … the not-oft-mentioned southeast corner of the South Island.

We’re talking about the DEEP south of the South Island.  So far south that the Catlins is in fact home to Slope Point … the most southerly part of mainland New Zealand (it’s not Bluff!).

It’s also home to the spectacular Nugget Point lighthouse …a rocky ocean-battered outcrop which out-spectacularizes the more well-known Cape Reinga at the other end of New Zealand.  It’s home to Curio Bay … where the Hectors dolphins constantly frolic in the bay … and where the Hoiho penguin may be seen not so constantly … and where petrified trees may be seen in the foreshore rocks unmovingly constantly.

The Catlins is the home of untrammeled birdlife and marine life … as well as beautiful beaches that clash with the incoming Southern Ocean … all protected from the madding crowds by temperatures that are perhaps 10 degrees cooler.

It’s also home to the Kaka Point Bowling Club (at the northern gateway to the Catlins) and the Owaka Bowling Club (in the ‘capital’ of the Catlins).  And at the southern end, home to the Tokanui Bowling Club.  All modest Clubs with modest memberships run by modest Catliners who give away their indigenousness with a roll of the ‘r’.

Tokanui isn’t the ‘Tokanui’ you might have heard of … infamously known for its former psychiatric institution (south of Te Awamutu).  This Tokanui is a small inland settlement, which if you counted the wider population on a busy day, might amount to some 100.

It’s still unashamedly sheep farming country here.  The cows and Star Wars-like irrigators haven’t taken over the farmscape.  There’s a general store, pub and garage in town.  And of course, a Bowling Club.

“Despite our remoteness, we may in fact be one of the newest Clubs in New Zealand,” says Committee member Vaughan Stronach.  “We officially started in 1992 after land had been gifted by a local for the purposes of a bowling club.”

You might wonder why.

But the nearest bowling club to Tokanui had been Edendale in the northwest and Owaka in the northeast … both 40 kilometers away.

“We’ve now got 20 or so members,” says Vaughan.  “All mainly farmers from the area who come to ‘town’ to enjoy bowls and a beer.”

“But we’re also competitive.   We get the occasional result at Centre tournaments … and that’s against 35 or so other clubs in the Centre.”

More often than not, that competitiveness shows up at Sub-Centre tournaments ... Southland is divided into three sub-centers :  Western, Invercargill and Eastern (with good reason …it is over 120km from Tuatapere Bowling Club in the west to Tokanui Bowling Club in the east).

And it’s not surprising that Tokanui should be so competitive … they’re one of a minority of clubs around New Zealand that sports an ‘international-sized’ 36 metre x 36 metre green.

“It’s funny when you get visitors here,” says former Greenkeeper Ernie Johnstone.  “They complain that the green’s too sluggish.  But it’s just that they’re not used to throwing it up another 3 metres.  It doesn’t sound much … but when you look down the green, it’s a long way when you’re used to standard-sized greens.”

On the other hand, if bowlers do end up in the ditch, their bowl will be stopped by an unusual backboard.  “They’re belts from the old timber mills that dotted the area around Tokanui,” laughs Ernie.  “We painted them white, and they do a great job.”

Vaughan Stronach shows off the backboard ‘belts’

Meantime, Ernie’s wife, Anne, keeps an eye on the affairs of the Club.  She’s the Treasurer, but her latest rally is BowlsHub.

Anne Johnstone has no hesitation organising the men in the club

“We’re going to get everyone in the club registered in BowlsHub,” says Anne.  “And if necessary, I’ll sit down and do it for every member.”

“Many of them are only men,” she winks.  “So computer stuff can be a bit of a challenge for them.  And even if it isn’t, they’ll put off ‘til later what they can do now!”

Keep up the great bowls, Tokanui!