13 January: Gore - home of NZ Trout Fishing

Agricultural & Pastoral Show Ground (A&P), Gore.

This was a surprise find! For a few dollars we could part in the showground, around the seating and facilities and hook-up to the power from the floodlights. 

Some of the horse-trucks gathering for the dressage competition
at the A&P grounds.

The warden, Brendan was a friendly fellow and helped saw-up the antler-horns that Shane had given us for Dizzy to nibble (good for her teeth). He had a dog of his own (a red setter) so was glad of one for her too. 

While we were there, there was a dressage show going on - so we had interesting horses to make friends with - including Dizzy as most horse owner also seemed to own a dog.

In the nearby town (walking distance again, thankfully) there was lots of history from an industrial era gone-by. the atmosphere was similar to Cape Foulwind in that this was an economy based on tourist bucks now - not local factories. The most prominent (empty) building was the local cereal maker, Creamoata and lots of train tracks around pointed to the busy town of the past.

The defunct Creamoata art-deco style building dominates the town of Gore's landscape.

But it was good to see the local library had been extended into a gallery and museum, with a tasteful extension that was unusually thoughtful to the art-deco-style original. The connections and reception here was good for change (was the local council responding to the tourists' needs?)