It’s a Canterbury tradition, isn’t it? Every year we’re up at sparrows on Show Day. We bundle the kids into the car and head to the showgrounds munching marmite on toast as we go.
There’s always a queue. We bump over the paddocks and get mixed messages from people waving orange flags. We park, slap on sunblock and head to the entrance pockets jangling.
The animals are happiest early in the day. The rides are best before lunch. The nor’wester arrives at noon along with the chips and hot dogs. We buy up Christmas presents at the stalls before we leave exhausted, sunburnt and full of memories. The A&P Show is what Canterbury’s all about. Brilliant!
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My happiest memories of going to the show are childhood ones (aren’t they always) of the Wellington A & P Show at Trentham Memorial Park – a wonderful place with lots of trees. I remember going through a horse mad phase and spending hours watching events in the show ring. Then there was the wood chopping – especially exciting as the competitors worked their way to the top of what seemed like a very high pole. Perhaps the best thing for me was the dancing competition – highland, Irish and the sailors hornpipe – held on an outdoor wooden stage in a clearing in the trees. I desperately wanted to be a highland dancer – the costume, the shoes, the ritual of dabbing your feet in the tray of rosin before going on stage. Throw in hotdogs and candyfloss and cute animals and it was kid heaven.