Central Otago Curling

Broom up .... and 'crack an egg!'

If you are travelling through Central Otago during the winter and see folks throwing 20 kilo stones around the ice and yelling "brooms up, crack an egg", then stop and join in.

They will be playing the ice sport of curling, brought here by Scottish immigrants in the late 1800's to entertain themselves during the hard, frozen winters.

Anyone can play. The rules are similar to lawn bowls and the idea is to glide your shaped granite stone (fitted with a handle) down a 35 metre strip of groomed ice and get it as close to the tee as possible. Team mates use brooms to sweep the ice smoother in front of your stone. The team with the most stones near the tee wins.

There's outdoor curling rinks in Alexandra and on the Maniototo Plain which hosts 17 clubs.

Curling has taken off as a sport since the game achieved full Olympic status in 1998 and now you can play this ancient Scottish sport all year round at the Maniototo Ice Rink in the historic mining town of Naseby. The rink is the only one of international standard in Australasia. No experience is necessary and you are provided with stones, brooms and tuition.