My Perfect Weekend: Lisa Murphy on golf, fishing and Saturday rugby

One of Lisa Murphy's weekend activities is taking her dogs for a long stroll along Castlecliff beach.

Each week, we speak to a member of the Whanganui community to ask what their perfect weekend in the region would be. This week, Eva de Jong catches up with Director of Sport at Whanganui High School, Lisa Murphy.

Friday night’s probably just catching up with family; we might have dinner at home or at a friend’s place. If we have friends visiting from out of town we like to go to the Citadel as our local spot.

On Saturdays throughout the winter I’m at the netball or rugby with the high school sport teams. Most of the time I’m there setting up for the rugby boys if they’ve got home games, or at the netball courts supporting our teams.

I like to see our kids from Whanganui High School out there playing sport, getting fit and staying healthy. I love the team environment that they’ve created within their squads, and with our wonderful coaches and parents who have come on board to support them. It’s rewarding to see them out there doing it.

I’ve finished playing netball but I still coach the younger A1 team at Whanganui High School. Instead about 18 months ago I started playing golf with my husband. I go to Castlecliff golf course, it’s a nice, open course and easy for learners. I’ve got a few friends involved as well, we all have a laugh together while we’re out there.

I often go to Castlecliff beach with my dogs, it’s quite cool to walk all the way along there. In the summer we take our beach buggy and go kontiki fishing; we just set the long line off from the beach. We often get a few fish, enough for a feed and a little bit extra. That’s all we want to get, it’s just a bit of fun.

Mostly my weekends just look like relaxing and enjoying the weekend before work starts again on Monday.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.