Note To Future Self

After a week of passing some sort of antipodal uber-cold back-and-forth between us, the sun finally came out (figuratively and literally), and we got to play this weekend. On Saturday, we tripped lightly down to the beautiful burg of Leeston for the Ellesmere A & P Association Show. “A & P” would be “Agricultural and Pastoral.” The county fair, to those in the autumnal north.

First, to dispense with the obvious…

Yes, there were sheep.

(click on any of the pictures for a bigger version)

All kinds of sheep

and sheep accessories

and sheep being judged. I now know that you don’t put a nice leash on a sheep and lead it around a ring with pink ribbons in its fleece. Nor do you ride it around jumping over fences.




There was lots of judging going on. Wine, cooking, handicrafts, highland dancing

[I'm glad I got a picture of the 16-year-old piper, way over to the right. Imagine what he's thinking. "I do this for the groupies" or "I should have asked for an electric guitar for christmas" or ...]

Sheep shearing was judged of course. Singles, pairs, mixed doubles. I was most impressed with the color commentor on the left, who really put me in the middle of the action.

And of course the vege was judged:

And what’s it all for? The money? The power?

The silverware. Of course.

Well, and the losers of the vege competition get put out here

We also managed to catch this candid shot of two hobbits getting ready for a riding competition

(just kidding, those are kids showing Shetlands)

Oh! And this is possibly the least illustrative photo possible, but there was bobbing for eels! Er, eel petting!

Eels were once numerous in nearby Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) and a major Maori food source, and have since become the ugly poster children for lake conservation.

Side observation: We saw many sheep, many cows, quite a few chicken, ducks, geese, llamas, and alpacas. The petting zoo even had a dog, which seemed a little redundant. No domestic rabbits (rabbits are pests here), and exactly eight pigs: one sow and seven piglets. Given the kiwi pre-occupation with sausage, I would have thought pigs would big deal. [Then again I also would have thought they could make bacon that was worth a darned.]

The A&P show was co-incident with an old tractor family reunion

They had a playpen for the baby tractors

Even big uncle Eddie was there

and that crazy dog he keeps chained up in the front yard.

And, to top it all off: log sports, brought to you by the Ellesmere A&P Axemen.

To you it’s just fun and games with an axe, but for them, it’s training for their upcoming grudge match against the Aussies. I’ve been told the man in the middle is 78 years old. The average age of the squad hovers around 65.

A good time in the sun had by all. We even had hot dogs!