One competition cancelled, but the shows go on

One competition cancelled, but the shows go on

The first South Island shearing competition of the New Year has been cancelled because of heavy rain over the last few days.

The decision to cancel the Peninsula Duvauchelle Shears at the Duvauchelle A and P Show near Akaroa yesterday because of difficulties associated with getting the 350 sheep in and out of the showgrounds.

The rest of the A and P Show was being held despite shortages of car parking with part of a nearby golf course usually used for up to 300 vehicles unable to be used this year, also because of the weather.

The forecast was a bit better for the first shearing competition of the New Year in the North Island at the Tauranga A and P Lifestyle Show on Sunday, with cloudy periods, a few showers mainly morning and night, northeasterlies and a temperature up to 24deg, according to MetService, which about 7am today showed Tauranga as having the highest temperature in the country at just over 21deg.

The competitions are among 61 events on the Shearing Sports New Zealand calendar in the 2017-2018 season, of which 41 are held at A and P shows.

The post-Christmas phase is the busiest with 45 of the competitions, from this weekend to the end of the season at the New Zealand Shears shearing and woolhandling championships at Te Kuiti on April 5-7.

It follows a seven-week mainly-December break from competition, traditionally the shearing industry’s busiest time of the year in the woolsheds throughout the country.

Feature events for the rest of the season are the Otago Championships and Southern Shears in Gore next month, the World-famous Golden Shears in Masterton in March, the national championships, and a Wales shearing team tour starting at the end of this month and including the CP Wool series against New Zealand, with test matches in February at Marton, Balclutha, Gore and Apiti.

The Shearing Sports New Zealand calendar for the rest of the season:

January 14: Tauranga A and P Show, Tauranga Racecourse.

January 19: Northern Southland Community Shears (shearing and woolhandling), at Lumsden.

January 20: Kaikohe A, P and H Show, at Kaikohe; Wairoa A and P Show, at Wairoa; Golden Bay A and P Show, at Takaka; Winton A and P Show (New Zealand Crossbred Lambs shearing and woolhandling championships), at Winton.

January 21: Horowhenua A, P and I Show, at Levin.

January 27: Warkworth A and P Show, at Warkworth; Taihape A and P Show (shearing and woolhandling), at Taihape; Tapawera Sports, at Tapawera.

January 28: Geyserland Shears (shearing and woolhandling), Rotorua A and P Show, at Ngongotaha.

February 2: Dannevirke A and P Show (shering and woolhandling), at Dannevirke.

February 3: North Kaipara A and P Show, at Paparoa; Rangitikei Shearing Sports (shearing and woolhandling, at Marton; Reefton Shears, at Inangahua A and P Show, Reefton.

February 6: Aria Sports, at Aria.

February 9-10: Otago Shearing and Woolhandling Championships, at Balclutha.

February 10: Northern Wairoa A and P Show, at Arapohue, Dargaville; Te Puke A and P Show, at Te Puke.

February 16-17: Southern Shears (shearing and woolhandling), at Gore.

February 17: North Hokianga A and P Show, at Broadwood; Ohura Sports, at Ohura; Murchison A and P Show, at Murchison.

February 18: Counties Shears, Franklin A and P Show, at Pukekohe.

February 23: Taumarunui Jamboree (shearing and woolhandling, at Taumarunui.

February 24: Apiti Sports (shearing and woolhandling, at Apiti; Kaikoura A and P Show, at Kaikoura.

February 25: Pahiatua Shears, at Mangaone Valley, Pahiatua.

February 28: Wairarapa Pre-Shears Woolhandling, at Riverside Farm, Mikimiki.

March 1-3: 57th Golden Shears International Championships (shearing, woolhandling and wool pressing), at Masterton.

March 3: Amuri A and P Show, at Rotherham.

March 10: Kumeu A and H Show, at Kumeu; Cheviot A and P Show (shearing and woolhandling), at Cheviot; Mayfield A and P Show, Mayfield.

March 11: Sefton Shears, at Sefton

March 16: Taranaki Shears (shearing and woolhandling), at Stratford

March 17: Waimarino Shears, at Raetihi; Methven A and P Show, at Methven.

March 24: Waitomo Caves Sports, at Waitomo.

March 25: Flaxbourne A and P Show, at Ward.

March 30-31: Northern Shears, Royal Easter Show, at Auckland.

March 31: Oxford A and P Show, at Oxford.

April 2: Mackenzie A and P Show (New Zealand Lamb Shearing Chmpiondships), at Fairlie.

April 5-7: New Zealand Shears (New Zealand Shearing and Woolhandling Championships), at Te Kuiti.

© Scoop Media