A curling stone believed to have been first sent down the ice in Scotland 400 years ago has come to rest near Tarras.
Its owner, John Perriam, of Bendigo Station, imported the stone recently as part of a collection and believes it is the oldest curling stone in New Zealand.
The 13kg stone has a handle but otherwise appears to be in its natural state.
Mr Perriam, who was reluctant to say exactly from whom (''an invisible Scotsman'') in Scotland he bought the stone, said he saw it for the first time at Blair Castle.
''I was really intrigued to see the way they started back in about 1520, which is around about when curling was first invented.''
He is now considering where to display it and the other seven stones from through the ages.
''I was very fortunate to be able to get a hold of them and while I didn't pay a great deal of money for them, from a heritage-value point of view they are unique.''
While the decision over where to house the collection is being considered, Mr Perriam and other members of the Cardrona Curling Club plan to carry out a ''blessing of the stones'' ceremony later this month.
An auction of curling stones will also be conducted, with proceeds going towards the community's efforts to buy the Tarras Presbyterian Church building.
Mr Perriam first began curling at Lowburn 50 years ago and has been co-ordinating the importing of stones for new members of the relatively new Cardrona club.
''It's given me a lot of enjoyment to see these guys with their stones now. They'll pass them down through the generations.''
He said curling was one of the world's oldest team sports and some stones dated back more than 500 years.
Mr Perriam said, unlike New Zealand, there was virtually no outdoor curling in Scotland any more, because of the changing climate and safety regulations.
The Cardrona club has an outdoor rink at Branch Creek and also ran the Curling at Altitude event at the Southern Hemisphere Vehicle Proving Grounds, on the Pisa Range, above Cardrona, last month.
''So what we've really done at Cardrona is we've taken the sport right back again to the early days.
