 At competitions around New Zealand, you may be seeing some familiar faces.
Colin and Nichola Forsyth, and their three younger children have returned from Scotland and are back in New Zealand, with a renewed passion for being involved in Highland Dancing through a well-established brand of dancing shoes in a company first started by Colin’s father Billy Forsyth and late mother Anne. Nic, as she is most often called, will carry on the business, and Colin in his career as a civil engineer, whose work has taken them around the world and back. He and Scotdance NZ writer Mary-Jo Tohill had a chat… When did you first come to live in New Zealand? I met and married a kiwi lass in 2000 in Glasgow. We got married and lived in Scotland but always said we would come to New Zealand at some stage. We first arrived in NZ in 2006 and stayed for eight years until we moved back to Scotland for almost 10 years and have now been back in New Zealand (in 2024). What was the main reason for coming then? We always said that we would move to New Zealand to give our children a taste of their Kiwi heritage. We moved to Hororata on the Canterbury Plains as although Nic was born in New Plymouth, her family come from the plains. We moved with three kids Ballagh 4, Lachie 2.5 and Eilidh who was 6-weeks-old. What were the main life events that took place during that time? I got a job with a major engineering consultancy in Christchurch. While in Scotland and although not an owner of the Highland Dancing shoe business, I had always had an interest but when we moved to New Zealand our involvement waned for a period of time. While in NZ we built a new house to suit our family and enjoyed the rural life with family and friends. The kids attended a local primary school and were involved in the local community. In 2010 our world shook when in September we experienced the first of thousands of earthquakes just 10 kilometres down the road from where we lived. As an engineer I was called in to help reorganise the areas of the Christchurch affected. In February 2011 we had our fourth child, Rannoch. The day after I went back to work from paternity leave was February 22nd and the world collapsed. The day after the earthquakes I got called into the emergency management system to run the sewer repair with a colleague. We worked effectively 24/7 for about six months to get the sewer network back up and running. I don't think I saw Rannoch awake during that period. But there are numerous stories of hope that came out of the earthquakes and brought the communities in and around Christchurch together. One such story is in Hororata, where a group got together to fundraise for the community and decide to be ambitious and set up a Highland Games. They asked who in the community had ever been to one never mind organised one, so I got a call. In 2024 Hororata Highland Games hosted 11,000 visitors, 20 Pipe Bands, 25 Heavy Eventors and 90 Academy dancers for their biggest competition in the South Island outside their nationals. Unfortunately as there are no RSOBHD teachers in the South Island at the moment, then Hororata is an exclusively Academy competition, but to me it is promoting Highland Dancing and why I am proud of the work I do here. In between all these things, we had our fifth child Aoife in August 2012. Why did you return to Scotland? We returned in 2014 because my mum was ill; she died two years later but had time with her grandchildren. What did you do while back over there? I worked as a consultant engineer again in Scotland but travelled all over Scotland and England. Nic looked after the kids while setting up an ebay (like Trade Me) business buying and selling recycled clothes and Lego. During this period we also bought the dancing shoe business from my parents and Nic runs that. Why did you decide to come back? We had a window of opportunity between kids finishing school and the next going into exam years so we decided to take the opportunity. Also on a personal point of view, engineers are more valued in New Zealand, and the wages are better. What did you miss about New Zealand and what do you miss about Scotland? Wherever you go it is always the people you leave behind that you miss. We have left out two eldest along with my dad in Scotland and talk to them often. We leave Nic’s family whenever we are in Scotland so it is always people you miss. What are your main goals for your return? Enjoy work with a new consultancy in Christchurch, help build its Three Waters capability as the changes in the New Zealand water standards system go through, help the youngest kids learn about New Zealand culture, and build the shoes business in the southern hemisphere. With two daughters still dancing, how are they able to keep up their R.S.O.B.H.D lessons? Eilidh and Aoife are getting lessons from Katie Reisima and a pupil of Morgan Bamford’s by Zoom and FaceTime. We are looking to be up in Taranaki for the New Zealand Championships with the dancing shoes and hopefully the girls can get some lessons over that weekend. |