A tug of war was also on the programme for the day
The fun of the fair was on full display as the 59th Waitomo Sports Day came to life at the Waitomo Domain on Saturday.
All the fan favourites were there to be enjoyed for the hundreds who attended – from an Easter egg hunt, tug of war and the gumboot throw for the kids, to the wood chopping and horse events and the domain fun run for families.
One of the mainstay events missing from the schedule was the shearing, which Waitomo Caves Sports Club president Adrian Verry said was called off following the rain leading up to the day.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had rain the last couple of days, so we haven’t run the shearing this year. Shearing is a weather-dependant thing, so you can only do what you can do.”
Verry said the sports day was an important family day on the Waitomo calendar, where competition and community come together.
From left: Levi Managh, 10, Eli Creswell, 9, Emily Managh, 8, and Jett Cresswell, 9, get in on the fun of the Easter egg hunt at the sports day on Saturday
“The base events of our sports day is our long-standing shearing, chopping and horse events, so really it’s based around the competition of those events. With competition, you bring people together and the camaraderie of friendship and to me, that’s what brings me back.
“I went to school here at Waitomo Caves and I’ve had a long-standing involvement with this place and this day – it’s a happy day.
“Looking at the car park up there, what a great sight and when you run an event like this, the domain looks so good from up on the road. It’s full, it’s used – how many people are here? Probably in the hundreds,” he said.
Among the other attractions on offer included long-time local entertainers Allan and Jan Barclay, as well as around 15 food vendors.
A tug of war was also on the programme for the day
