Pastoral & Industrial Association Show

‘Pastoral & Industrial Association Show’ is a pretty high end sounding name for what we would call an old-fashioned County Fair. They hold them throughout the country this time of year (Spring). The highlight of our visit was getting to watch the working dogs bully the sheep around. Smart dogs – dumb sheep.
  This guy filled us in on the NZ working dogs and all the sheep dog trials that are coming up over the next few months while his dog waits patiently to go back to work and deal with those evil sheep.
With all the rules you have to deal with in NZ some just might call it a nanny state. We had to have our boat AC wiring inspected by a licensed contractor before we could hook up (plug in to shore power) at the marina. This inspection is good for 4 years. We also had to have our extension cord to the dock separately inspected. This one is only good for 1 year.  The weirdest rule is making all the children under 12 walk around in these plastic bubbles so they won’t get hurt.
And then there was the safety bull riding with carefully padded paddock floor.
The fair included judging local baking, flower and crafts entries. I was a little disappointed by the judging for the arts and crafts section. This masterpiece of potato sculpting only got an honorable mention. I couldn’t believe it it didn’t walk away with first.
This is still spring down here. The weather changes every few days. You can see the change of weather clouds signaling the next days of wind and rain here.
We finally got off the dock at Opua after buying a new Tohatsu 9.8 two-stroke outboard for the dinghy. Our previous Tohatsu lasted about 14 years and multiple dunkings in salt water (not recommended by the manufacturer). We are carefully doing the 10-hour break-in now. Our sails are all at the sail loft getting some well deserved tender-loving repair and re-stitching. We plan to motor around the Bay of Islands (in NE New Zealand) to visit a few of the anchorages here until our sails come back and then we’ll likely head out to explore a little more of the coast.
Paul