In the event you missed an earlier blog, A & P stands for "Agricultural" and "Pastoral", in other words, farming. This week, for 3 days, the 199th annual Canterbury Show is the largest A & P show in all of New Zealand. It coincides with "Cup & Show Week", which is New Zealand's premier horse racing event (kind of like our Triple Crown, only it involves races with both Trotters (Sulkies) and Gallopers (Thoroughbred Racing). The women dress up and wear fancy hats. Gambling on horses, by the way, (the people placing the bets are called "punters") is really, really big here.
Anyway,back to the A & P show - located only a 20 minute drive from where we are staying, it attracts 100,000 people, with over 500 vendors (there used to be more before the Christchurch earthquakes) and 6,000 livestock. We found the whole event to be very well organized.
With so much to see, we had to pick and choose so we focused on Sheep Dog Competitions where a farmer and his dog had to steer 3 sheep through an obstacle course containing a gate, a bridge (the most difficult one) and two turnstyes in less than 10 mins. Chief, a Border Collie with one blue eye and one brown eye, ended up getting a sheep with real attitude. It refused to be herded and tried to head butt Chief on several occasions. It took an amazing amount of restraint on Chief's behalf not to bite that sheep in the face! Another event we enjoyed was the Wood chopping competition, pitting NZ vs Australia. The blokes carried their axes in metal cases. We also walked around and looked at vintage tractors and farm machinery. We visited booths to learn about the different sheep breeds -one of which is called the "Ranger" which is genetically bred for survival in the High Hills, meaning cold temps, rough terrain and no need for a Shepard. These sheep take care of themselves. Wow, talk about free-ranging.
There was also horse jumping, motorcycle jumping, tractor pulls, and even a guy doing a headstand while perched on a 100+ foot high pole. We loved the NZ wine and food tent ,with yummies to sample and purchase. As we headed out, walking back through a pasture to get to our car, we heard a band begin to play "Sweet Home Alabama". It's so surreal being here.
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