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Rocky Island swimming hole,Grey River. Taylorville. 2006.
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DescriptionDad never used to take us to this swimming hole when we were kids and he told me recently that the reason was because.. when he came to the West Coast in 1942, a young man was drowned in this spot and his body was found under the ledge of the rock.. and he felt it was too dangerous for us,but we had a few good times in the last few years swimming here.Date of Photo2006Map[1] ContributorHeather Newby
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Location (city or town)TaylorvilleLandmark (Place)Rocky Island swimming hole,Grey River
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Category Tagriver
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CommentsRhonda Glasson The sands
3
Margaret Mulloy Spend lots of time swimming there and parties.
Kevin Voigt Many memories in and around this hole
Karla Haussmann Kristalee Barton
Sheree Menzies Dad was there, it was his mate who drowned and he couldn't save him. He made sure we learned to swim because of that. Loved swimming in the lagoon.
Robyn Betts My grandmother Annie McSorley (nee menzies) lived in Taylorville and my mother Anne too in 1942..any relation i wonder?
Allan Upston Our old swimming spot
Vicki Hurrell Loved swimming here
Neil Wick Judith Wick awesome spot,
Alan Sheehan Yep the sands as we called it in the early 70’s, lots of fun there as teenagers !!
Heather Newby great place to swim
John White The Best Swimming Spot ever. We lived there from Nov to March every year. You needed to be a good swimmer but there was a sandy shallow area across from the diving spot in the pic. for kids. Used to get timber for diving boards from Wallsend Mine to add to the fun. Only problem was bloody Robert Griffin & Co (who will read this) from Dobson used to raid us & float our diving board down to Their little diving hole. Best times ever on Rocky Island which was a magnet for the whole community. John White
Heather Newby wow.. thanks for sharing,, very interesting,, we had the same sort of 'territorial scuffles " in Blaketown Lagoon..lived in the lagoon and beach all summer....
Louise Blair Found a bag of kittens there when I was a teen. Haven't gone in the water there since.
Heather Newby i remember finding a bag of kittens at Blaketown Lagoon.. not nice
Dianne OBrien Had many a fun day at this swimming hole
Anne-Marie Dixon Great story John
Griff well done great banter between Dobson and Taylorville . Great times on the Best Coast
Michaela Perkins i take my dog there, she loves to swim.
Jill Jones Best swimming place ever.
Carrie-Ann Gibson We used to go to Nelson's Creek...loved it
Sandra Skates It was a great place and the Do son kids would never take your driving boards lol
Lois Iacoppi Bet the river was bleeding cold
Lois Iacoppi Funny we didn’t seem to notice how cold the water was
Ross McFarlane My dad loved this as a kid in Taylorville he used to jump of the Brunner bridge and swim/float down. His request after passing was this would be his last trip as ashes !!!RIP George McFarlane
Heather Newby Ross McFarlane thats a lovely gesture
Sandra Sands We were laying on the beach there and watched the Wallsend pub go up in smoke sad day
Leah Whitehead The best place to swim and hang out.....closely followed by the sands at Dobson.
Sandra Sands Leah Whitehead we didn't live in Dobson until later (joke)
Leah Whitehead Sandra Sands we did live in Dobson but often swam over to rocky island because it was awesome! A big thanks to Mum and Dad, Aunties and Uncle's, Nana and Grandad who showed us these awesome swimming holes and gave us the skills to swim safe in the best part of our wee country!
Christopher Mulloy Great swimming hole lot of good memories
Peter Green dived off there quite a few times
Helen Chappell Omg I know exactly where that is and can clearly remember that us Dobson crew would swim over to the middle of the island to have a Catch up with the Taylorville crew and then swim back to Dobson Awesome post.
Jeannie Preddy I remember those days too Helen, great fun! X
Leeanne Sneddon Spent most of my childhood summers there = great memories
Debbie Ansett Leeanne Sneddon and Mum would take us down there in the summer and there was a little pond around the back and was always so warm. Do you remember we would find all the little pink stones in the sand. Wow such great days
Leeanne Sneddon Debbie Ansett last time I went down there it was still there
Helen Green Lived on the Dobson side. Spent summers swimming across river. Played on the 'sands' and dived in the 'hole.' Parents told us not to!
Melanie Jayne Hughes Sandra Hughes I remember it well, loved that place xx
Sandra Hughes Kevin Mills show this to Sal please Kev had some great times there with the kids. Hope you are all good up there keep that bloody hot weather up there.It is cold down here but thats ok lol
Philip Sim Kylee Ford...you'll know this swimming spot
Dave Steers Great times use to jump in at the Dobson mine pump and lift trolly wheels up to the surface. Great days.
Kylie Smiley Best Oh my god! The memories made there!
Garick Mcdonald Layne Green have you taken them there yet
Mary Fenemor Come on Fenemor Families, Steven,Diana, Irene, Ron , Jenny S. Would like to hear Your story's on here, from, The Taylorville Side!!
Tania Pennicott Miss the swimming days
David Mulloy the bloody sandflies were the problem but also had fun cooking johnny cakes
Robert Fay Lemon Griffin They must of loved your lilly white skin Dave
Robert Fay Lemon Griffin Great times there when we were young, Remember floating down the river to Greymouth on a rubber truck tube with sixpence wrapped in a hanky and stuffed in our togs to catch the bus home.Used to take about 2 hours.
Shona Ratana Yes wonderful swimming place Only thing was for me I could not swim across to the other side and always had to be rescued. Spent so many summer days at those swimming places
Les Beaumont Many a day swimming there
Sue Vaukins Spent many a day there with my cousins from Taylorville.
Anne Pattinson Spent lots of summer days there loved it
Betty Tindale Loved that rocky swam in it at the age of 7baked potatoes in holes all the kids pinched goodys from home sugar to get a fire going black spuds and don’t forget the big oak tree on jack Allen’s farm big rope to swing into the bushes magic time still call there looks small now but long way to swim when a child
Craig Brooks Jason Ross how much time did we spend there growing up .lol
Jason Ross Craig Brooks a lot of time we would practically live down there in summer.
· Reply · 5h
Lyn Coleman
Lyn Coleman Love that spot..kids and now grandkids love too
Leeanne Sneddon
Growing up in Taylorville ?alway at Rocky Island ?. I'd let my horse loose and he'd swim then go up onto the sand bank for a roll. Vicki Hurrell Mandy Richardson Kerry Tones , Scott Mitchell . Great times
VW Yarrum
Dived to bottom to see how many rocks we could get on one breath.?
Leeanne Sneddon
Debbie Ansett ???
Kelly Lee
This is why my grandad never swam there - it was one of his friends that drowned. I’ve had some fun there over the years though ???
Anne Pattinson
Malcolm Howell 7loved swimming there
Murray Saunders
Used to swim there all the time.
Then bake on the rock…..
Melissa Mondo
Definitely a couple of young lads died there around 1950ish. Seperate incidents.
Malcolm Howell
In 1971 I did a Scuba dive (for an insurance company) in the front of that island to retrieve a camera that had been lost from a jet boat. There was a deep pool of some 20 - 25 feet on the up stream side of the island. That end is worn underneath at approx 45 degs and that underwater "overhang" would be approx 20 feet and goes evenly down to a stoney gravel bottom. It was a clean even rock face with no trapped debris at all. No eels or fish seen as no where for them to hide on the up current end. A nice swimming pool on the Taylorville side.
Kerry Voigt
Jill Jones Tom Hartill
Don Hartill Ron Hartill Fay Burns ??
Yous have some great old stories of this place ??
Bid Symons
Loved this place
2h
Reply
Pauline Schafer
I had a few swims over there, but mainly on the shallow side. We caught plenty of eels as kids around the rocks on the Brunner side of the bridge.
Rob Lunn
I have heard that one too but my dear old Grandmother herself a pioneer of Brunnerton and as far as I am aware never told a fib in her life used to say that when she was girl there was a massive eel under that ledge that she and some of her contemporaries actually seen and after that they always stuck to the Dobson side!!!
Russell Pattinson
i was told that story to
Rob Lunn
I have heard that one too but my dear old Grandmother herself a pioneer of Brunnerton and as far as I am aware never told a fib in her life used to say that when she was girl there was a massive eel under that ledge that she and some of her contemporaries actually seen and after that they always stuck to the Dobson side!!!
Sue Vaukins
Had cousins in Taylorville and we swam there a lot.
Noel Warren
Spent a lot of time swimming and diving at Rocky Island, was at school the day that guy drowned there
VW Yarrum
Dived to bottom to see how many rocks we could get on one breath.?
Allan Upston
My old swimming hole
Wendy Clark
Oh my gosh haven't seen Rocky Island for years... Leeanne your Dad and David swam there .
Alan Pegley
My younger brother John drowned there in 1949 aged 5.
Wendy Bruce
I went swimming there once. The water was colder n a frogs tit. Much colder than the river
Joyce Rewa Cate
Spent most of our primary School years there, was known as The Lagoon, spent most of our summers there.
Shona Duthie
This was the best swimming hole ever
Chris Carroll
I was from Taylorville but was never allowed to swim there either. I guess it was because of the drownings. I don’t even think I was allowed down the road going in.
Barbara Barry Gerrard
I remember those NZ rivers being so cold but have great memories of those days back when.
3
Margaret Mulloy Spend lots of time swimming there and parties.
Kevin Voigt Many memories in and around this hole
Karla Haussmann Kristalee Barton
Sheree Menzies Dad was there, it was his mate who drowned and he couldn't save him. He made sure we learned to swim because of that. Loved swimming in the lagoon.
Robyn Betts My grandmother Annie McSorley (nee menzies) lived in Taylorville and my mother Anne too in 1942..any relation i wonder?
Allan Upston Our old swimming spot
Vicki Hurrell Loved swimming here
Neil Wick Judith Wick awesome spot,
Alan Sheehan Yep the sands as we called it in the early 70’s, lots of fun there as teenagers !!
Heather Newby great place to swim
John White The Best Swimming Spot ever. We lived there from Nov to March every year. You needed to be a good swimmer but there was a sandy shallow area across from the diving spot in the pic. for kids. Used to get timber for diving boards from Wallsend Mine to add to the fun. Only problem was bloody Robert Griffin & Co (who will read this) from Dobson used to raid us & float our diving board down to Their little diving hole. Best times ever on Rocky Island which was a magnet for the whole community. John White
Heather Newby wow.. thanks for sharing,, very interesting,, we had the same sort of 'territorial scuffles " in Blaketown Lagoon..lived in the lagoon and beach all summer....
Louise Blair Found a bag of kittens there when I was a teen. Haven't gone in the water there since.
Heather Newby i remember finding a bag of kittens at Blaketown Lagoon.. not nice
Dianne OBrien Had many a fun day at this swimming hole
Anne-Marie Dixon Great story John
Griff well done great banter between Dobson and Taylorville . Great times on the Best Coast
Michaela Perkins i take my dog there, she loves to swim.
Jill Jones Best swimming place ever.
Carrie-Ann Gibson We used to go to Nelson's Creek...loved it
Sandra Skates It was a great place and the Do son kids would never take your driving boards lol
Lois Iacoppi Bet the river was bleeding cold
Lois Iacoppi Funny we didn’t seem to notice how cold the water was
Ross McFarlane My dad loved this as a kid in Taylorville he used to jump of the Brunner bridge and swim/float down. His request after passing was this would be his last trip as ashes !!!RIP George McFarlane
Heather Newby Ross McFarlane thats a lovely gesture
Sandra Sands We were laying on the beach there and watched the Wallsend pub go up in smoke sad day
Leah Whitehead The best place to swim and hang out.....closely followed by the sands at Dobson.
Sandra Sands Leah Whitehead we didn't live in Dobson until later (joke)
Leah Whitehead Sandra Sands we did live in Dobson but often swam over to rocky island because it was awesome! A big thanks to Mum and Dad, Aunties and Uncle's, Nana and Grandad who showed us these awesome swimming holes and gave us the skills to swim safe in the best part of our wee country!
Christopher Mulloy Great swimming hole lot of good memories
Peter Green dived off there quite a few times
Helen Chappell Omg I know exactly where that is and can clearly remember that us Dobson crew would swim over to the middle of the island to have a Catch up with the Taylorville crew and then swim back to Dobson Awesome post.
Jeannie Preddy I remember those days too Helen, great fun! X
Leeanne Sneddon Spent most of my childhood summers there = great memories
Debbie Ansett Leeanne Sneddon and Mum would take us down there in the summer and there was a little pond around the back and was always so warm. Do you remember we would find all the little pink stones in the sand. Wow such great days
Leeanne Sneddon Debbie Ansett last time I went down there it was still there
Helen Green Lived on the Dobson side. Spent summers swimming across river. Played on the 'sands' and dived in the 'hole.' Parents told us not to!
Melanie Jayne Hughes Sandra Hughes I remember it well, loved that place xx
Sandra Hughes Kevin Mills show this to Sal please Kev had some great times there with the kids. Hope you are all good up there keep that bloody hot weather up there.It is cold down here but thats ok lol
Philip Sim Kylee Ford...you'll know this swimming spot
Dave Steers Great times use to jump in at the Dobson mine pump and lift trolly wheels up to the surface. Great days.
Kylie Smiley Best Oh my god! The memories made there!
Garick Mcdonald Layne Green have you taken them there yet
Mary Fenemor Come on Fenemor Families, Steven,Diana, Irene, Ron , Jenny S. Would like to hear Your story's on here, from, The Taylorville Side!!
Tania Pennicott Miss the swimming days
David Mulloy the bloody sandflies were the problem but also had fun cooking johnny cakes
Robert Fay Lemon Griffin They must of loved your lilly white skin Dave
Robert Fay Lemon Griffin Great times there when we were young, Remember floating down the river to Greymouth on a rubber truck tube with sixpence wrapped in a hanky and stuffed in our togs to catch the bus home.Used to take about 2 hours.
Shona Ratana Yes wonderful swimming place Only thing was for me I could not swim across to the other side and always had to be rescued. Spent so many summer days at those swimming places
Les Beaumont Many a day swimming there
Sue Vaukins Spent many a day there with my cousins from Taylorville.
Anne Pattinson Spent lots of summer days there loved it
Betty Tindale Loved that rocky swam in it at the age of 7baked potatoes in holes all the kids pinched goodys from home sugar to get a fire going black spuds and don’t forget the big oak tree on jack Allen’s farm big rope to swing into the bushes magic time still call there looks small now but long way to swim when a child
Craig Brooks Jason Ross how much time did we spend there growing up .lol
Jason Ross Craig Brooks a lot of time we would practically live down there in summer.
· Reply · 5h
Lyn Coleman
Lyn Coleman Love that spot..kids and now grandkids love too
Leeanne Sneddon
Growing up in Taylorville ?alway at Rocky Island ?. I'd let my horse loose and he'd swim then go up onto the sand bank for a roll. Vicki Hurrell Mandy Richardson Kerry Tones , Scott Mitchell . Great times
VW Yarrum
Dived to bottom to see how many rocks we could get on one breath.?
Leeanne Sneddon
Debbie Ansett ???
Kelly Lee
This is why my grandad never swam there - it was one of his friends that drowned. I’ve had some fun there over the years though ???
Anne Pattinson
Malcolm Howell 7loved swimming there
Murray Saunders
Used to swim there all the time.
Then bake on the rock…..
Melissa Mondo
Definitely a couple of young lads died there around 1950ish. Seperate incidents.
Malcolm Howell
In 1971 I did a Scuba dive (for an insurance company) in the front of that island to retrieve a camera that had been lost from a jet boat. There was a deep pool of some 20 - 25 feet on the up stream side of the island. That end is worn underneath at approx 45 degs and that underwater "overhang" would be approx 20 feet and goes evenly down to a stoney gravel bottom. It was a clean even rock face with no trapped debris at all. No eels or fish seen as no where for them to hide on the up current end. A nice swimming pool on the Taylorville side.
Kerry Voigt
Jill Jones Tom Hartill
Don Hartill Ron Hartill Fay Burns ??
Yous have some great old stories of this place ??
Bid Symons
Loved this place
2h
Reply
Pauline Schafer
I had a few swims over there, but mainly on the shallow side. We caught plenty of eels as kids around the rocks on the Brunner side of the bridge.
Rob Lunn
I have heard that one too but my dear old Grandmother herself a pioneer of Brunnerton and as far as I am aware never told a fib in her life used to say that when she was girl there was a massive eel under that ledge that she and some of her contemporaries actually seen and after that they always stuck to the Dobson side!!!
Russell Pattinson
i was told that story to
Rob Lunn
I have heard that one too but my dear old Grandmother herself a pioneer of Brunnerton and as far as I am aware never told a fib in her life used to say that when she was girl there was a massive eel under that ledge that she and some of her contemporaries actually seen and after that they always stuck to the Dobson side!!!
Sue Vaukins
Had cousins in Taylorville and we swam there a lot.
Noel Warren
Spent a lot of time swimming and diving at Rocky Island, was at school the day that guy drowned there
VW Yarrum
Dived to bottom to see how many rocks we could get on one breath.?
Allan Upston
My old swimming hole
Wendy Clark
Oh my gosh haven't seen Rocky Island for years... Leeanne your Dad and David swam there .
Alan Pegley
My younger brother John drowned there in 1949 aged 5.
Wendy Bruce
I went swimming there once. The water was colder n a frogs tit. Much colder than the river
Joyce Rewa Cate
Spent most of our primary School years there, was known as The Lagoon, spent most of our summers there.
Shona Duthie
This was the best swimming hole ever
Chris Carroll
I was from Taylorville but was never allowed to swim there either. I guess it was because of the drownings. I don’t even think I was allowed down the road going in.
Barbara Barry Gerrard
I remember those NZ rivers being so cold but have great memories of those days back when.
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West Coast New Zealand History (15th Sep 2025). Rocky Island swimming hole,Grey River. Taylorville. 2006.. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 4th Apr 2026 16:31, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/17156