Kirsten Roy

The Wānaka A&P Show is the second Saturday of March each year. I think I’ve only missed one because I had a volleyball tournament. As kids, especially, there’d be this real build-up to it. Our school bus drove out past the showgrounds each day – the Ferris wheel was always the thing that went up first. It was always exciting to see the fun being built. You’d look up your age group and see what things you could do. Then we’d spend hours doing the little garden in a saucer, a flower arrangement, and getting creative with animals made out of vegetables and fruit.

We loved dropping these off to our mum’s friend Jan Allen. Jan helped run the Home Industry pavilion for as long as I can remember. We used to take our things to her the day before – or the morning of – the show for judging. And then, when our children were younger, she was still there helping out. She retired a few years ago, but her daughter now helps out.

My dad, Bob McRae, had a Corriedale sheep stud at the time, and it was very successful. We would actually go as far as Christchurch to show his sheep and to some of the shows down south and over to Queenstown. So when it was the Wānaka Show, it was really exciting, because it was on our home turf! I used to spend a lot of time with Dad prepping his sheep before the show, getting them ready and cleaning them and clipping them. One particular year we had pet lambs, Lucky and Lucy. I’m the wee blondie, the little one, and that’s my older sister, Anna, and she is three years older than me. My dad’s mum, Granny Maisie, was really handy with needle and thread, and she did a lot of her own wool spinning. She was just really, really clever, and actually made my wee smocked dress.

You used to be able to park your car inside the show area, around the outside of the ring. So all of these cars were parked around the edge, and you probably knew the majority of the families. Everyone would have their boots open. Each car had a picnic set up with deck chairs, camping tables, chillybins and sun umbrellas – thermoses and Tupperware containers aplenty. I remember my auntie used to make Scotch eggs, and then there’d always be chicken drumsticks, asparagus rolls and bacon and egg pie, and all these beautiful chocolate caramel slices and biscuits. It was like all the high-country afternoon teas and lunches coming together.

The Grand Parade was always a real highlight. You’d line up and walk around, and there’d be lots of clapping, and you’d have your little card on display if you got a first, second or third to pin to your animal. I remember I got first with my wee dog called Benji – I actually ended up in the paper. We were excited about our fifty-cent lucky dips and visiting the sideshows – when $5 bought you a whole day’s worth of entertainment. At some point we’d watch Grandad Ian and other relatives compete in the dog trials, watch our shepherd compete in the showjumping ring, and visit the stock pens and Wool pavilion to see how many coloured tickets and ribbons Dad had won with his sheep.

I can sit for hours with my daughter watching the horses and the cattle, and the dog trials. I think now I get more joy out of seeing how much joy the kids get out of very similar things that we used to as children ourselves. They’ve still got that same anticipation of wanting to try and enter every event.