Opening ceremony of the New Zealand Track and Field Championships. Brass band. March past of the regional teams. Auckland, West Coast (North Island). The Union Jack fluttering. West Coast captain reading pledge, arm raised. The Release of carrier pigeons.
Middle distance race starts. Presentation to the winners. Women’s 100 Yard. Men’s Hurdles.
New Zealand and World Record holder, Empire Games Gold Medal Winner and Olympian Javelin thrower Stan Lay (and brother of the filmmaker) practising his art.
Intertitle: “Javelin Throwing... By Stan Lay”. Lay demonstrates his technique with a cricket ball. And then poses with the javelin pre-release. Grip. Various angles of Lay in action document his methods. Slow motion footage. Footage tracking Lay as he runs in to make his throw. This appears to have been filmed using a car as a dolly.
Stan Lay with his wife Ngaio (nee Kirwin) and his two young children (this is likely to be 1933 judging by the age of his children). Lay in slow motion tossing the discus. Young Peter Lay holding his father’s Javelin.
Jean Batten’s De Havilland Gypsy Moth G-AARB coming in to land at [Hawera Aero Club, 1934]. This arrival was a part of a six week aerial tour of New Zealand in which Batten gave speeches and attended civic functions, the célébritée du jour. Alights the aircraft. Receiving flowers. Holding onto a black kitten. Introduced to the crowd on a podium, still holding her new kitten and flowers. Addresses the crowd herself. Haka in her honour. Batten talks further. Close up of the pilot smiling. Taxiing for takeoff. She is followed by three other Gypsy Moths, including ZK-ACZ. These were flown by female Wanganui pilots Eva Parkinson, Jane Winstone and June Summerell. Batten taking off.
Picturesque view of a lake, man walking into view. Rowers plying a river surrounded by native flax and bush. Man swimming in the river.
Stan Lay practising the hurdles. Dolly shot of Lay as he hurdles, Most likely taken from a car. Slow motion.
Elevated views of track and field events at the Empire games held in at Eden Park, Auckland. Hurdles, sprints and distance events. Women’s and Men’s 400 Metre Relays.