Hayden Meikle counts down the 150 greatest moments in Otago sport.
No 114: First bonspiel in Naseby (1879)
It was a bitterly cold winter and two teams from Dunedin were invited to Naseby for a bonspiel. Dunedin declined the invitation because it was difficult to get enough players to travel the 145km.
A report in the Mt Ida Chronicle stated that the secretary of the Mt Ida Club made a trip to Palmerston and persuaded it to send team. Naseby beat Palmerston by one point.
It was a severe winter and two months of non-stop curling was enjoyed by people living in the Maniototo.
Mt Ida secretary W. McHutcheson said there was an unlimited supply of ice that could be relied on for at least six weeks every year.
"We confidently expect this district to become the headquarters of curling in New Zealand," he said.
New Zealand Curling Association life member Peter Becker said that was "a very prophetic statement back in 1879".
That was the first curling event involving two clubs to be held in New Zealand.
Games had been played between club members in Dunedin, Naseby and South Canterbury before this but they were not interclub fixtures.
The bonspiel was played at Greens dam, an old gold-mining dam that had frozen over.
Naseby has been the headquarters of New Zealand curling since the outdoor rink was established in the early 1980s. The international indoor rink has consolidated the town's position.
Most of the clubs that developed in subsequent years stemmed from the Mount Ida club of Naseby.
"They split up into other clubs like Kyeburn, Ranfurly, Chatto Creek and Pioneer and spread out in a radius from Naseby," Becker said.
