The domain is surrounded on three sides by beautiful forest. On the other side, native vegetation leads down to the mighty Wairau River. Dairy cow exhibitor Merv Livingstone has been to every on of the Waiau A&P Shows held here since he was five - he's 76 now.
"The hole in the bush it's known as. It's always had an atmosphere of being a friendly show, everybody mixes together an enjoys it," he told Country Life . Several of Livingstone's calves are being shown but he's not exhibiting.
He prefers to stand back and let the young ones do the formal showing. "I always love it when the kids come along and exhibit. This is how you get used to it.
That's how I was brought up. Dragged around the shows with my parents," he chuckles. The lead up to the show is a very busy time for show secretary Isobel Devery.
She runs the team which makes the event happen and said it's worth the effort. "These people put amazing amounts of work into their animals and it's really important to be able to celebrate that." The sheep and beef farmer has a long history with the show and her parents are proud lifetime members.
"They're actually in the kitchen cooking the food for the lunch for the judges. My sister, she's the course designer for the show and my brother's been the president." "If you go around the different sections there's lots of family support and it goes back a long time," Devery said.
Horses and riders mingle and compete between the slightly wonky goalposts on the domain's rugby ground. .
