Every now and again, there is a day that is really special, fun or just extra nice, and this Saturday was one of those. We started the day driving over the Rimataka Hills, which is always spectacular, over to Masterton in the Wairarapa, and headed first to the A&P (agriculture and produce) show. I always like these things for some reason, especially the animal sections. The sun was shining and it was lovely and warm, so a perfect day to walk around and have a look at things.
I have to confess, my favourite thing was the dog herding ducks. Yes it sounds a bit odd, but honestly it was such fun watching two groups of ducks, one black and one white, being herded into pens, up into their ‘house’, onto a see-saw and sliding down a shoot. The pictures below do not do it justice!
Dog and ducks
More dog and ducks
Away from the animals, there were several sections with vintage cars and old farm machinery.
An old Massey tractor
One area we spent a bit of time in was the poultry shed, full of all sorts of breeds of chickens and ducks, some for sale too.
A rather grumpy looking hen..
..but a happy looking husband
Then we moved on to my favourite…the sheep…and the next door alpacas, before the pigs and cattle.
A prize winning sheep
Me and sheep
Alpacas amusing the children
Then to the pigs…
…and cow handling competition
There was a huge area given over to the equine side of things, with competitions of all sorts taking place all day. We saw tiny kids on tiny ponies, serious ‘horsey girls’ intent on winning, and what looked like a really intense dressage competition.
There was also a foodie section of course too, with cooking demonstrations on cooking lamb, gourmet pies and of course local wines and beers to taste. Part of this included a ‘gate to plate’ competition where farmers submit one lamb each to be judged – first on the hoof, then on the hook, and finally on the plate. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to taste any of the lamb, but I am positive it was excellent.
That took up our morning and lunch time. From there we headed to friends and more animals, but more of that in part 2.
Thistles and Kiwis 