A Day At The Races

It's Show Time! Drew and I have been hearing this phrase and seeing posters for Cup and Show Week for at least a month or so, but I don't think either of us really clued into the gravity of this festival... Kiwi's do love any excuse to party. There's really no denying they love their festivals even more, and let me tell you this annual spring festival does not disappoint!

We originally planned to go wine tasting and stay out at Hanmer Springs last weekend since Drew had Friday off work to celebrate Canterbury's anniversary, however we decided last minute to save a little money and stay in town. We knew Cup and Show week was in full swing, but didn't really know what was on, so decided to check out what all the fuss was about... next year we'll be better prepared! 

After doing just a quick search Thursday night we realized C&S week is a full-on festival that kicked off the weekend before with a raging block party, an urban assault obstacle course competition, a fashion show, horse races, greyhound races, the A&P Show (similar to a county fair), and much more! (If I hadn't been out of town for most of last week maybe we would've done a better job earning participation points.) Anyway, after realizing what we were missing we immediately purchased tickets to Saturday's event - Christchurch Casino 150th NZ Cup and New Zealand Bloodstock 1000 Guineas Day horse race.

We knew we wouldn't win for best dressed, but quickly scavenged through our closet to find something decent to wear and I'm glad we did! Oh the finery! Ladies in their Sunday best. Dapper gents. Hats galore! I wish I had taken my Nikon and actually captured some better photos... Oh well. This was my first time to a horse race and it was such a blast! We even managed to win 3 out of the 5 races we bet on! We didn't actually win any money, but we did break even. I think that counts for something. :)  For those of our friends weighing a visit next spring - this would be a good time to consider!  We took notes, so next year we can really do it up!

(Oh and I should (although hesitantly mention) it is also Mo-vember, which my husband is proudly supporting... I questioned posting a few additional photos of him intentionally 'photo-bombing' several pics that would have otherwise been rather nice... They were however quite hilarious so I may put them up on FB. We'll see....)