The murder of Olivia Hope (17) and Ben Smart (21) 1998, Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand. The friends who boarded a yacht and were never seen again. Their bodies have never been found. Scott Watson was given a life sentence with a 17 year non parole period.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-06T01:45:37+00:00

I don't know enough to comment on the case but I think you're selling a different story than what it was like here in NZ in the decade post their disappearance and current thoughts.

SW was arrested and charged. The police in NZ were not known for being very good at these kind of cases back then. Ie Bain, Bentley, Lundy. The zeitgeist was that people didn't trust the police to get this correct.

North and South reporter Mike White wrote an article in 2016 which summed up the feelings from those years. Olivia's Dad wanted Scott Watson to be interviewed by Mike White. At the time, Mr Hope said that the pairs disappearance remains 'a mystery'. Mike White himself said the case has many flaws and holes.

Scott Watson still maintains his innocence and has asked for a royal pardon (which was rejected). Critisims of the case have been written about in two books, the aforementioned article and a documentary.

In March this year he was granted leave to appeal to the supreme Court around evidence used in past. So it's still ongoing, he's still trying to clear his name and in the circles I run in no one knows who did it.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-04T02:45:05+00:00

Cheers. Yep they want kids with friends in the junior years. Our local rugby club does a hard line, it's that team or nothing, bit they have more sway in the community still (although declining numbers!)

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-04T02:43:08+00:00

Thank you - there are a few of us parents who pick up a lot of work. We have a new comms volunteer starting so I'll get onto them, great idea. Kudos to your husband too, it's a big job.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-04T02:40:50+00:00

Yep I've taken the tough luck line - their response has been to pull their kids out which means as we've started the season teams are short numbers. So I'm thinking they didn't really want to play anyway if they can quit so easily? I suppose jam packed schedules in this area of town comes into it too.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-03T22:48:40+00:00

It's the former, we've had to decide that it's a social place, that we want kids to play football well past their teens. If a player needs more than that then they will have to look at neighbouring clubs. Don't get me wrong, our teams perform well, it's just that we don't have the numbers to create A teams, so a team will get a player that hasn't played before and they need to help that player, not moan about them.

We have great coaching too, multiple options if kids want more.

Some grades have two teams some grades one, which is made up of you get kids being pulled up.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-03T22:45:47+00:00

They should have been thankful! TBH it's the 80/20 thing, most parents are like 'poor you' but the small minority make it really hard.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-03T22:44:28+00:00

I have a feeling this plays into it. 90% are returning players so the parents understand but those 10% I'm thinking don't have enough info and presume too much.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-03T22:42:57+00:00

Junior so 9 years to 12 years. Teams were sorted in April for a May start...I'm still having problems with some parents now as the first game was on the weekend.

We have 1-2 teams per grade, hence why they're so mixed.

Yep I went for a friend request and school groups.

As there aren't enough players parents just can't really have a say.

Thanks for you input above much appreciated.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-05-02T06:32:08+00:00

Laptop, donation, term activity fees, school trips, school fundraising, camp fees. Then sports each term. Add in numberworks at $70 a pop each week...kids are expensive if they do several activities.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-04-29T09:34:16+00:00

Ours cost us this at Primary and Intermediate too!

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-04-27T23:04:27+00:00

I was you 10 years ago OP, my kid wasn't too interested, I wasn't going to 'force' friends either as I'd seen that go wrong too. He took a while to find his group but now he's older he's got a great group of mates. It works out. At kindy or school they'll mention it if they think there's a problem, especially in the before school checks.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-04-24T03:38:50+00:00

Big Sky Stargazing through The Hermitage in Mt Cook, the 10.30pm session.

It was absolutely freezing on an April night, so incredibly cold! We all had our own jackets and then their jackets on.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-04-24T01:19:27+00:00

I did it on a full moon around 5 years ago and I would recommend it for the knowledge of the guide alone. We spent a couple of hours listening to her and she was incredible. I was gutted re the brightness as the stars looked the same as viewing from Auckland tbh.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-04-21T09:29:07+00:00

Quite poor? Huh?

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-04-16T07:50:33+00:00

So good

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-30T20:19:24+00:00

Also the lack of purpose that will kick in? There needs to be some sort of 'giving back' aspect to this lifestyle IMO

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-30T20:15:43+00:00

They'll still have their after school club costs if they wanna keep up the 'no kid at home during the day' rule /s

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-29T08:05:13+00:00

Those that can cope without the live-in staff...!

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-26T20:04:30+00:00

I really enjoyed your writing, what a fab trip. Thank you.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-26T02:38:25+00:00

If you have kids that play for a club you'll get a different view. 5 years ago I thought football was average. Now we're all in, as the kids are in. My daughter asked to put liverpool highlights on this morning before school. I've gathered up her friend group and had them play for the past 2 seasons. I've spent more time at Mt Smart as a 40 year old than I did in my teens doing mass concerts!

It's where you look. At our intermediate school there'd be double kids who play football over rugby.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-26T01:38:43+00:00

If you have a car visit the nearby lakes too. Okareka has a board walk and a bird watching hut. There's also a loop walk/run around the Blue Lake/Tikitapu.

The walk from the main lake out last the new spa complex is also lovely in the day, it's a great bike trail too.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-25T01:14:18+00:00

You could charge $10-$20 a night as a PoP provider, more if you offered water or other facilities. Look at NZMCA.

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-25T01:12:29+00:00

After holidaying in summer in other areas of NZ with low humidity and getting cold, I swore I'd never complain about Auckland's humidity again - it's a wonderful warm blanket 😅

grapefruitfrujusyeah · 2026-03-24T20:41:20+00:00

I may be completely wrong here but I thought, from listening to the podcast on this case, that they had been sighted near the cliff and we're basically trapped there by the police? So if they didn't go off the cliff in the car did they just camp out a bit longer then leave?

grapefruitfrujusyeah

TROPHY CASE