A peck on the chin

ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post

CUTE CHICKS: Amber Evans-Johnston enjoys the petting zoo at the Pauatahanui Lamb and Calf Day.

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Amber Evans-Johnston, 2, from Pukerua Bay, kisses a four-week-old chick at Pauatahanui Lamb and Calf Day – after a bit of prompting.

"She was staring at it and I told her to give it a kiss," mother Katrina Evans said. "The animal petting zoo was definitely the highlight for her."

About 9000 people visited Saturday's event to raise funds for Pauatahanui School, organiser Beth Cruickshanks said. "The chicks were a new thing for us and they went down really well. We had some prize-winning ducks on show for the first time too."

The lamb and calf day has been an annual event since the mid-1940s and has retained aspects of traditional Kiwi fairs such as selling home-made jams and holding raffles.

"We say our school is where town meets country and it very much is so. We try to keep the fair as country as possible without shoving it down people's throats."

There were more than 70 fairground attractions that gave children, and the young at heart, the chance to take a digger ride, clamber up a climbing wall, or tackle a commando-style obstacle course. A wacky hair stall decorated children in colourful styles.

- © Fairfax NZ News