Living in the Southern Lakes region it seems there is something in the water, air and mountains conducive to getting kids into the Great Outdoors. Catherine Pattison talks to three Hawea fathers who have made the transition from participating in extreme sports to parenting pint-sized kayakers, kite-surfers and adventurers.
Head out along the Hawea River banks any day after school in summer and it is likely you will see Pete Simpson and his two boys Red (10) and Tay Awa (8) paddling by in their kayaks.
The youngsters have been in the craft since they were preschoolers and countless hours of coaching have gone into learning to negotiate the rapids and in Red's case, right himself if he goes under.
Mr Simpson (42) has been an exploratory and competitive whitewater kayaker for more than 20 years, has shoulders like a clothes-line and a desire to share his love of kayaking with his kids.
He had just hit his 30s when he and wife Carol had Red and gradually his solo paddling trips dissolved away.
For him, the natural progression was to want to engage the kids and they were eager to learn how to do what he does best - kayaking.
Predominantly a house dad, Mr Simpson put in the groundwork, beginning with taking them rafting, then moved on to getting them out on the still waters of Lake Hawea, where they learnt the skills to keep them safe in an easier environment than a running river.
For Red, his abilities were put to the test last year, when aged 9, he kayaked the grade three Roaring Meg section of the Kawarau River.
Mr Simpson had four competent mates with him to keep an eye on his son's rite of passage paddle, which he classifies succinctly.
''Most New Zealand paddlers, they would ... [expletive] themselves, going down the Meg.''
Red admits it was ''scary at first'' but after running the biggest rapid and not tipping out, it left him hungry for more.
''When I finished the Meg, I thought it was awesome and I wanted to do it again,'' he says with a grin.
Mr Simpson has been a sponsored paddler for Pyranha kayaks for the past 21 years and importing them for six.
He realises he is lucky to have this resource at his disposal for his children to benefit from but they are also fortunate to live where they do.
Based in Hawea Flat, they have the Hawea River and its recently constructed waves mere kilometres from home and Lake Hawea is only a few more kilometres away in the other direction.
As soon as the weather warms up the three Simpsons often nip out for an hour after school for some ''quality grade two-plus kayaking'' down the river in the evening.
Mr Simpson encourages the boys to be responsible for their own gear and getting their boats into the water.
He has ''never been a shouter'' and prefers to let his sons learn at their own pace.
''I'm all about putting the time and energy in at the start so they have the core skills. After that you are just absorbing the growth and enjoying the ride. It's bloody rewarding. It's all about what's the next adventure for us.''
Adventures are something Geoff Small (38) has had many of. An eight-time national free-ski champion, he has also skied competitively with success overseas, skied first descents, including the west face of Mt Aspiring, and crossed over into endurance mountain biking in later years.
He lives with his partner Anna Gillooly, who worked as a ski patroller/mountain/climbing guide, before they had Seb (7) and Eva (4).
After the children were born, they continued to engage their passion for adventuring ''but took a couple of steps back'', Mr Small said.
Based in Lake Hawea, he believes it is a ''pretty awesome spot to be born into'' for their two offspring and they have set about exploring the surrounding mountains and tramping trails as a family.
Mr Small recalls a few standout memories from the past couple of years, which included staying a couple of nights in a rock bivvy off the Routeburn Track;Eva riding her push bike around the Deans Bank single track in Albert Town when she was just 2 years old (with Dad helping her out on the hills) and Seb confidently skiing most of Treble Cone this season.
Mr Small says the adventures are not about pushing the kids ''that's not my goal at all''.
Rather, they are about letting them explore their own capabilities and learning the consequences of actions as dictated by nature's laws, all with the comfort barrier of having highly skilled parents on hand.
''I was able to have a good grasp of what I was capable of and if you have nurtured your own abilities and felt confident with where you were at, it gives you a good understanding about how far kids can go,'' Mr Small explains.
Seb and Eva have had wet feet, fallen off bikes and been caught out in snowstorms but sustenance, warm clothes and reassurance is always there.
Mr Small is not the harden-up kind of father of a generation past.
''Don't brush off their pain. Hold them. Comfort them. Don't fret. Allow them that time to deal with the emotion,'' he recommends.
Working seasonally as a builder, ski guide and ski coach has allowed him to enjoy plenty of time with his kids, Mr Small said.
Many winter days are spent skiing and last winter Eva, then aged 3, achieved a self-instigated milestone, hiking up to Treble Cone's 2088m summit.
She told her dad while on the chairlift below the summit that she wanted to do the walk up the steep, untracked slope.
''So I took her skis and she stomped up it,'' Mr Small said.
While everything he does with his children is calculated according to his ability to safely accompany them and keep them fed and watered, there is much they learn by exploring their own limits, Mr Small explains.
''Respect the earth. Respect the elements. They are the natural laws.''
As far as elements go, the Prout family are just as at home with wind as they are with water.
Kite surfing on Lake Hawea, which is almost a stone's throw from home, or snow-kiting up in the mountain ranges only an hour or so's drive from home are activities that Mum Jenny, Dad Richard and their daughters Hannah (13) and Emily (10) enjoy doing together.
Originally from England, Mr and Mrs Prout had been ardent paragliders BC (before children) but after the children were born it became harder to get away together and indulge in this extreme sport, so kite surfing was proposed as an alternative.
Mr Prout (47) said it was an obvious choice since they lived near a lake and ''it takes less time [than paragliding] and is slightly less extreme.''
What he didn't predict was that his girls would beg him to let them try it too.
While they were initially too young to physically handle the demands of kite surfing, they enjoyed playing with training kites on the shore.
A family trip to the Cook Islands then provided the perfect combination of warm, clear water and child-friendly wind conditions.
Hannah, who had been studiously watching kite surfing videos online, picked it up no problem and was hooked.
''It took a few goes, but like water skiing, if you are lucky, you get up,'' she said.
However, returning home and conscious of the ''quite intimidating'' on-shore wind and chillingly cold water Lake Hawea is infamous for, Mr Prout put plan two into action.
''I took them snow-kiting instead because it was safer and easier to learn.''
There is nothing gung-ho about his approach.
He rigorously checks the weather for appropriate wind conditions and has bought a snowmobile so he can keep up with Hannah and effect a rescue if he has to.
Emily is not far away from joining her older sister snow-kiteing and participates by being towed along behind the snow mobile, beside her mum.
Like the other two families, Mr Prout, who is the CEO of 1791 Diamonds, doesn't think there is anything extraordinary about the outdoor activities he enjoys with his children. Their back doorstep provides a springboard into adventures and experiences that will no doubt shape the way they continue to enjoy the natural world.
''It's part of the life we live. It's different to the lives we used to live in England.
''It's a wonderful pleasure. It's a wonderful life,'' Mr Prout says.
