Little Shack on the Lake

Three generations holiday at a much-loved family bach that has changed little since it was built more than 70 years ago.

Words by Sue Hoffart  Photographs by Tessa Chrisp

NO SWIM, NO BREAKFAST. Half a century ago, the compulsory morning dip was a Reynolds family ritual at Lake Rotoiti. Given the antiquated plumbing at their bach, Pen Reynolds insisted her children start their day with a leap into the lake with a cake of soap in their hands. “We did have a bath-tub,” the Gisborne octogenarian says, “but we didn’t really use it. It was a dreadful thing that was lit from underneath, a sort of gas thing. I was terrified and only lit it once.” Pen admits it was difficult to propel her teenagers into the water on cool mornings. “They’re all sooks in my family. I could go in the lake any time, though it was a bit tough in June.”

Pen and husband Pete are spending the day at their beloved holiday home, reminiscing with son Bill and his wife Lucy Corbett who have driven from Gisborne to stay for the school holidays with their children Saul, Maia and Peter. A cool wind is whipping up the lake, where the two oldest children have been trolling for trout with their father. Bill’s aunt Kirsty caught the first fish mentioned in the resident log book that has been used to record fishing successes and guests’ comments since 7 March 1955. Pen has more than her fair share of entries in that book, where comments are not confined to trout. In April 1955 John Broad’s entry is brief but telling: “No fish. Plenty grog”.

Pete credits the Korean War and a timely cocktail party with their decision to buy the bach, immediately dubbed The Shack, back in 1954. He and Pen had been visiting Rotoiti for years: both had holidayed with friends and cousins along its shores since childhood. Once they had offspring, the couple starting talking of buying their own place. Fate intervened one night when their hosts at a party mentioned a simple lakeside house that was on the market. The Reynolds snapped it up. “I think we paid £3000 for it, which was quite a lot of money at the time. But there were big wool prices in the ’50s. Wool went up to 10 shillings a pound in the Korean War and it was usually two bob a pound. So we had a bit of money.” Not that there was anything fancy about The Shack. Just a basic kitchen with a rickety old stove, a fireplace in the living area, one bedroom inside and two more outside, off the veranda. Black creosote on the outside, kauri sarking on the interior walls and ceiling.

The Reynolds always packed farm lamb and beef when they loaded their car with bags and children to make the four-hour journey north. On arrival, blankets had to be hauled out of the tin-lined box – rats were a problem – and someone needed to check the water pump. Back then, water came directly from the lake and the pump was a finicky machine that worked only on fine days and was prone to seizing up with grit.

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