We Were Just Driving Through Whinchester!!

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We had already decided to go back round the island via Christchurch to see our pals at the Lyme Bar and have more yummy sushi, but we were a day later than planned as we had an extra day in for the little penguins. The drive from Oamaru to Christchurch is about 5 hours, but we broke it up easily as at lunchtime we happened to pass a rodeo! A real life rodeo! Complete with real life cowboys!!!!!! All this and penguins I thought all my Christmasses were coming at once 😊 What a very understanding and lovely husband I have 😊

So we had to drop in and see what was going on - and boy we were glad we did. The rodeo was absolutely incredible. We literally couldn't believe what we were seeing - not only were there absolutely insane cowboys riding horses intent on bucking them off at all costs, there were guys riding bulls (!?!) and worse (or better depending on how you look at these things, and how long you had spent watching to desensitize yourselves!) there were children riding sheep... we seriously couldn't believe this - tiny kids Freddy's age being plonked on a sheep which was already bucking and rearing and trying to get away, holding on for dear life as the sheep raced off across the field. Most kids stayed on for about a minute tops, many being shaken off (and sometimes trampled on and squashed) straight away. It was something else to see, that is for sure.

Some kids loved it, some clearly hated it and were in tears the minute their Mums put them on. A bizarre world of rodeo! The rodeo riders were amazing to watch too and how the hell they even got on the bulls when they were stamping and snorting and clambering to get out I don't know. Certainly the most incredible thing we have seen so far!

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