These speedy dogs show off the ribbons they collected at the Waimarino A & P Show in the small dog events. Photo / Waimarino A & P Show
By Penny Miles of RNZ
Organisers of the Waimarino A & P Show are anticipating the Desert Road shutdown will bring even more people flocking through its gates.
The two-month closure of State Highway 1 on the central plateau is turning out to be a real turnaround for businesses in the township of Ohakune.
Raetihi, on State Highway 4, around 10 minutes from Ohakune, is just along the road from the busy SH1 detour.
Raetihi hosts its biggest annual agricultural and pastoral day at the Waimarino Show Grounds, west of Ohakune on the third Saturday of February each year.
Experiences such as all-day Clydesdale horse-drawn carriage rides for a gold coin donation are one of the mainstays of the event on Parapara Road.
This summer it’s no different with a team of volunteers busy preparing the showgrounds for the gathering on February 15 which has Mt Ruapehu as its backdrop.
Waimarino A & P show president Angela McCoubrie said the show helped to bring the community together, and that started well before the show rolled around.
She encouraged city folk who might be on the roads this weekend to stop off as they pass through Ohakune, but she joked they might not be able to make it a quick rest break.
“If you’re heading north and you want a good detour and a pit stop, the show would be an amazing break in your travels,” McCoubrie said.
“You might just end up stuck, not stuck in a bad way, stuck in a good way.”
The Raetihi resident, who left a big city to settle into life on a sheep and beef farm, said there was tremendous support for the event from local farmers.
Even though it was wonderful to have visitors flock to the Ruapehu District, it was also important that locals found the event so enticing that they couldn’t miss it.
She wanted farmers to stop working so hard for a moment, and reconnect with each other by sharing a laugh.
A record number of 30 lambs had already been donated by farmers in the district, each one in return for a box of beer.
They’ll be dropped off on the morning of the show.
The generous number of livestock donations this year showed the team of volunteers were hitting their targets when it came to community spirit.
There was a little bit of arm-twisting involved.
“One of our committee’s partners, he’s a farmer and he loves to get on the phone,” McCoubrie said.
“It’s a good chance for him to have a chat with all the farmers in the district.”
And one lucky farmer will leave the show with bragging rights of having donated the heaviest lamb of the lot, not to mention the $200 cash prize.
“It’s a record of 30 lambs donated to the show, so it’s really well supported.”
Visitors to the show will have their agricultural and mathematical knowledge tested at the ‘guess the weight of the sheep’ exhibit.
“Between the three, weigh them all together and divide them by three in your head, and the person who gets the closest wins $100,” she said.
After a day on the trailer, the lambs will be sold, with the proceeds donated back to the show.
A recent innovation introduced last year was the small dog races which proved so popular they’re on the schedule again.
These races and the hobby horse races are back in the main arena, with plenty of ribbons to be won.
Some of the show jumping events will offer cash prizes over $1000, with many equestrian events held on Sunday.
Trucking company Lilburn Transport is the naming rights sponsor but more than 30 businesses are also playing their part.
Contractors, big farming operators, shearing companies, builders, vets, real estate agents and forestry companies are all part of the community fabric, and they have put their hands in their back pockets to help out.
McCoubrie reminded families it was not a costly day out.
“We can offer free rides to all the kids all day on Saturday,” she said.
“It’s a massive thing for our community so the parents and caregivers can bring their kids and it’s not an expensive day out.”
Traditional rural sports like woodchopping are also on the programme.
Organisers are also warning people travelling with a horse trailer to allow plenty of time if they’re travelling on SH47 over the Te Ponanga Saddle Road between Turangi and National Park while jostling with heavy traffic on the SH1 detour route.
- RNZ