Oamaru A&P Show in the Sunshine

Saturday 28 February

We’d originally planned 3 nights in Oamaru then on to Palmerston for a night at Otago Fresh Milk… but Shelli from OFM said she’d be at the North Otago A&P Show on Saturday and as that was in Oamaru we decided to stay & go along.

Glorious day for it - Louis & I cycled in early and checked out the produce & crafts tent, I watched some show ponies doing their thing and we met Shelli and the team in the cow pens - her Jersey cow had just won supreme champion which meant they would lead the grand parade later! The school children entries in the craft tent were many & varied - there seems to be heaps of community support for the event. And there were some delicious baked treats and home grown fruits and veggies to admire - especially the cornucopias of produce.

Over in the cow judging rings we had missed the main event and Shelli's stalls were adorned with winner and championship ribbons as her darling cows and calves took a well earned break in the shade. The pet calf judging was taking place with kids leading their baby coos around the ring - I was smitten by the darling we red muckle coo - but I am obviously not a cow judge as he came third out of three!

Met up with the others and we mooched around together and in pairs, sampled some of the delicious food on offer, watched some displays, watched the people, visited the veterinary petting tent, checked out the shiny tractors & farm equipment and had a lovely time in the sunshine.

I particularly enjoyed the show pony and hack classes as they took me right back to my teen summers as I would hitch a lift to the various shows up and down the country in the Gilbert-Scotts fabulous horse box and help them out with grooming, feeding and preparing the ponies for the ring.

The food on offer here was good - we blagged a free sausage from the BBQ at the Property Brokers stand as this company manages our rental in Taumarunui, Abby went for a brisket toastie and for dessert - Whittakers chocolate chunk cookies and the eternal favourite, real fruit ice cream.

Our favourite new friends were the Clydesdales, Ceilidh & Dragon - they were gorgeous! Such gentle giants, they won our hearts - Louis now thinks we should buy a property with enough land to keep a Clydesdale. I was impressed at how easily they let this little girl walk around them, pet them and just interact so casually with them. Even Jez was smitten!

The Grand Parade, was led by pipers and the local historical society, then we cheered on Shelli and all the other winners & champions as they made their way around the ring. The Clydesdales seemed to win over everyone as they stopped for smooches on the way round! Next event - we all had a giggle at the terrier race which was over in a flash!

Went to watch the buskers Mulletman & MiM, and somehow Russ got roped in as a volunteer! Cue giggles galore as he was given a mullet wig, danced to Cotton Eye Joe then had to be the base for one of Mim’s performances before hoicking Mulletman onto a 4-5m high unicycle so that MiM could fire a juggling club at him upside down and using her feet! So much fun! Russ did an awesome job and we all cheered and heckled loudly from the sidelines...

Our last port of call was the sheepdog demonstration which was amazing - the supreme control Barry had with just a few commands & whistles was phenomenal.

Back to Old Bones for a rest, a spa for the Fernandi & dinner in the fading sunshine. What an epic day!