on one of his first visits to our shores, capt cook left behind some sheep and a couple of rabbits and was 'quite surprised to see how well they'd done for themselves' when he returned.
it is possible to buy our 'local' produce almost anywhere in the world- i've seen enza apples in bangkok, dairylea cheese in a nicaraguan supermarket, and listened to tales of mythical snowy white sheep from a greek wool seller.
word gets around. and of course, word gets exagerated.
what better way to sort it out other than to put on a show.
the agricultural and pastural show
farmers come from far and wide to compete. their wares, the finest cattle, sheep and fowl the country has to offer. rare breeds, some of them, but all of them prized for their ability to perform.
c and i sat on the judges bench, taking a pause. there was a young boy sat there with a special stick that i saw the other farmers prodding their cows with. i asked him if he was competing.
-my dad's the one their with the blahdeblah (the name of the breed; he might as well have said something in mandarin, i'd be just as likely to understand)
he then described to me the things that the judges are looking for. he could quite equally have been describing what he might look for in a girlfriend... his cow (actually, it was a bull) came 6th.
i thought they were all pretty. but then, i am a vegetarian.
we moved on.
we went through the pens, where all the cows with calves, sheep, pigs and poultry were lazing about. munching hay. quite an aroma i tell you. we saw various breeds of chickens, stripey pigs (kunekunes) merino sheep (which were awfully dirty- not at all like the greek bloke described them) and goats. there was also a city farm, an area for the children to go and pat the baby animals.
our c was more interested in watching the girls and jumping off the bales of hay.
finally we went and watched some horses jumping over fences which calix thought was hilarious. then a tractor came to remove the fences before the prizes were awarded- this he thought was even more amusing.
