Everyone Out

🐑 School Holidays in the 90s – Things My Mum Probably Didn't Know About
PART 3
After the exploding Raro bottle and the slimy culvert incident, you'd think I might have learned something.

You'd be wrong.....

This adventure took place a few years later. I was out riding my bike on the outskirts of our small Otago town when I stopped beside a paddock full of spring lambs. I stood there watching them for a while, thinking how incredibly cute they were. Then I spotted a newborn lamb curled up near the fence without its mum. And a thought entered my head: "I want one."

So I reached through the fence and picked it up.

The problem, of course, was that I was still a few kilometres from home. After unsuccessfully trying to carry a lamb and push a bike at the same time, I came up with a solution that seemed perfectly sensible to my young brain. I put the lamb in my bike helmet and hung the helmet from my handlebars.

(If you read Part 1, you'll know I had previous experience hanging important things from handlebars. Apparently I hadn't learned my lesson.)

I made it about 100 metres down the road before the farmer spotted me while doing his rounds. "What are you doing with that lamb?" he asked. Without missing a beat, I replied: "Oh, it was outside the fence. I was rescuing it." A complete fabrication.

Needless to say, my plan to become the proud owner of a new lamb came to an abrupt end. And I don't think I've ever told Mum this story before...

So if you're reading this, Mum..... surprise! 😅

Now I can't be the only one...

What's the most ridiculous thing you did as a child that seemed like a brilliant idea at the time? Or when did a plan go spectacularly wrong?

Everyone who shares a story in the comments will go in the draw to win a free programme day this winter.

Things My Mum Probably Didn't Know About - School Holidays in the 90s
PART 2

This memory is a little blurry because I was quite young, about 6 or 7. We lived in a tiny rural town in Otago, and like many of my childhood adventures, this one involved a bike and water.

My sister (probably about 9 years old) and I somehow knew about a small stream that ran through a neighbouring farmer's paddock and disappeared under a farm track through a culvert. I have no idea how we discovered this magical place, but we loved it.

Unfortunately, Mum had specifically told us not to go there. Naturally, we went there.

We'd bike over, play in the stream, and slide down the slimy culverts. At some point we came up with what we thought was a genius plan: take off our clothes so they wouldn't get wet and Mum would never know we'd been playing in the water.

To our young minds, this was foolproof.

I can't remember where Mum thought we were, and what felt like hours of adventure may actually have been 30 minutes, but I do remember the feeling of biking home convinced we'd got away with it. Mission accomplished.

Until the next day. Turns out slimy culverts leave evidence. Mum discovered our knickers stained an interesting shade of stream slime green, and our brilliant cover-up quickly unravelled. We weren't quite the criminal masterminds we thought we were.

What's the funniest thing you thought you'd successfully hidden from your parents as a child? 😄 Everyone who shares a story in the comments will go in the draw to win a free programme day this winter.

Things My Mum Probably Didn't Know About 😂😂 - School Holidays in the 90s.
PART 1
What did you get up to in the school holidays when you were a kid?

Over the next week or two, I'm going to share three stories from my small-town 90s childhood. Looking back, they were equal parts adventure, freedom, questionable decision-making, and fun.

One school holiday, a friend and I packed a picnic and rode our bikes to the river which was less than a 1km from my house. My lunch was carefully packed in a plastic shopping bag hanging from my handlebars. A foolproof plan, obviously.

About halfway there, the bag swung into my front wheel spokes. The spokes sliced straight through my drink bottle full of Raro, soaking my egg sandwiches, my Roll-Up, and pretty much everything else in the bag.

Did we turn around? Of course not.

We carried on to the river anyway. I shared my friend's lunch, spent the day swimming and exploring, and when I got home I quietly hid the destroyed drink bottle because I didn't want Mum finding out what had happened.

Looking back, I need to thank my mum for the freedom she allowed my siblings and I to have. I was about 10 years old, I didn't have a cell phone, she know where we were headed and I know what time I needed to be home and that was about it. It was one of those ordinary type of days that somehow became a lasting memory.

Now it's your turn...

What's one school holiday adventure you had as a kid?

To celebrate our Winter Holiday Programmes, everyone who shares a story (no matter how long) in the comments will go in the draw to win a free programme day this winter.

(And yes, there are two more stories coming soon including one involving a lamb and another involving a very questionable use of a culvert...)

❄️ Winter Holiday Programme bookings are now OPEN! 🔥🌧️

Get ready for muddy adventures, warm fires, hot chocolates, toasted marshmallows, shelter building, and wild winter days outdoors at Everyone Out.

Spaces are more limited this winter and some sessions are likely to fill quickly. So if your child is a hardy regulars who know winter is one of the best times to be outside get in quick!

👉 Book now through Enrolmy https://enrolmy.com/everyone-out

🌧️❄️ Warning: Winter Holiday Programme bookings drop tomorrow at 3pm!

Our winter programmes are all about muddy adventures, warm fires, hot chocolates, toasted marshmallows, shelter building, and embracing the glorious sideways rain Wellington likes to call “light winds.”

And before anyone asks… yes, we do have halls at every location to warm up, dry out, and most importantly keep sandwiches from becoming soup. Nobody likes a soggy sandwich. 🥪😂

We’re running a reduced schedule this winter while two of our lead kaiako are away on leave, so spaces may disappear faster than dry socks.

📍 Island Bay
Mon 6 – Wed 8 July
Mon 13 – Wed 15 July

📍 Belmont
Tue 7 – Thu 9 July

📍 Paparangi
Tue 14 – Wed 15 July

⏰ Bookings open tomorrow (Friday 29 May) at 3pm.

🔥 Winter Holiday Programmes are back! 🌧️

This winter we’ll be running a slightly reduced schedule across our three Everyone Out locations, with a couple of our lead holiday programme kaiako away over the break. That means spaces will be a little more limited than usual.

Winter at Everyone Out is for the hardy regulars who love muddy adventures, warm fires, hot chocolates, toasted marshmallows, shelter building, wild weather walks, and fully embracing the wet and wild Wellington winter. There’s no hiding from the weather here! We lean into it!🌧️ 🌧 🍃

But just quietly - we do have halls at all of our locations for when the weather get really rough!

With fewer sessions available, bookings are likely to fill fast.
📅 Enrolments open afternoon Friday 29 May via Enrolmy. Get in quick to secure your child’s spot!