Have a field day at Mystery Creek

A four-day bring and buy sale transforms Mystery Creek into a mini town offering everything from blow-up barns to e-weeds. MAUREEN McDONALD reports.

Once, a nameless little creek found fame around 1915 when an escaped convict was spied on its banks, whereupon a member of the local constabulary galloped off in hot pursuit. When convict, constable and horse disappeared without trace, the name Mystery Creek was born.

It was more than 50 years before there was any whiff of fortune when in 1970, a rough and ready block of land at Mystery Creek was acquired as home for the New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays.

At first the Fieldays were modest, established as a meeting place for agricultural sellers and buyers. But the event caught on and today the name is synonymous with Australasia's biggest and boldest agricultural expo.

Year after year, yokels and townies alike flock in their thousands to the four-day bring and buy. Last year I decided to find out what all the fuss was about. The sun cracked the eastern horizon as I headed out of the city, hoping my lack of suitable footwear - no gumboots - wouldn't be a hindrance.

The day was in full bloom when I arrived. Spiked tent tops rose in orderly fashion above a neat grid of roads and streets, already swarming with foot traffic. The Mystery Creek Pavilion sat centre-stage with a cluster of permanent exhibition buildings to its east. A colourful crown of flags and helium balloons swayed above the site.

As jaunty parking marshals pointed me into a paddock-cum-parking lot, I realised I'd blown my urban-sophisticate disguise by not driving a 4WD land-cruiser.

Where to start? I decided the best option was to follow my nose. A tent opening beckoned and I stepped in to find myself in the Rural Living tent, with stalls offering everything from Tupperware to tourism.

At the next tent a man extolling the virtues of his rubber broom pulled the crowds: "You'll never get this one away from your husband, ladies," he crowed. Whether or not they believed the patter, they clearly enjoyed the entertainment.

Round the corner the inventions on display amazed and amused me, Kiwi ingenuity alive and well everywhere I turned.

A blow-up barn caught my eye. "Good for anything," the inventor assured me. "Rear your calves in it, hose it out and you're ready to party!" He said he had hundreds of good ideas. "I've got four," declared his earnest apprentice. "Bet they'll be winners," I assured the young Edison.

Loudspeakers regularly let me know what I was too late for and what I'd be just in time for, if I hurried - an enlightening seminar in the Dome, Ag Art fashion parade in the Spantech Pavilion, HotSaw woodcutting somewhere off to the side. All the while helicopter joy-rides chopped away overhead adding expo sound effects.

A vacant blue plastic chair parked at the corner of G St and J Rd was too much to resist. It was a strategic spot for a rest, directly opposite the burger stand with the amazing offer - free chips with all burgers! "Quarter-pounder lamb with mint jelly, quarter-pounder venison with cranberry sauce, take your pick, it's all export quality."

Whether it was the sales pitch, the free chips or just the delicious aroma wafting up the street, plenty of takers were choosing this eatery over the food courts and cafes dotted around.

Behind the burger bar the tractor competition was a crowd-pleaser as the rural boy and girl racers hooned up the track to clock the fastest time. During a break, Puhoi Thunder screamed into the arena for a fearless display of tractor terrorism.

The inaugural Rural Bachelor of the Year competition was the big buzz, and the loudspeaker guided us to the seven finalists. I encountered the rural Romeos at the digger pit, where they were demonstrating their skills at pouring an early morning cuppa using a digger. Personally, I thought a digger in the bedroom might not be my cup of tea, even with the accompanying red rose.

Despite their charms and availability, it turned out the bachelors were not the main feature. The show's theme and platform for success was e-farming and the event oozed technological efficiency.

In the main pavilion the premier feature was awash with e-services, e-solutions, e-processes, e-tools, e-weeds. E-weeds? The right advice for dealing with your weed problems.

Even the tax lady was on an e-mission. "Yes," she confirmed, "farmers are right up there when it comes to filing returns and making payments online." Next door, the virtual fieldays stand aimed to keep buyers and sellers talking all year round.

In front of the pavilion a couple of Finn Brother sound-alikes belted out a Kiwi classic about always taking the weather with you. Crowds weaved and wandered the street and I was struck by how relaxed they looked.

An Olympic gold medallist strode by exuding the power and purpose that carried him to the winner's podium. The village green was littered with bodies picnicking in the sun.

Further along, the bawdy Orange Boys strummed up a storm giving an electrifying performance about an electric fence. People stopped to listen.

But where were all the gumboots? Were Fieldays fashions changing or was it just the absence of rain? It was time for a coffee so I sat and surveyed just how widespread gumboot-wearing is at the Fieldays.

Eventually, a lonely pair of rubber redbands, occupied by two large feet, strode by and I concluded that only one person every four hours wears gumboots at Fieldays. At least that was the rate for adults - every kid wears gumboots, or so it seemed, until I discovered a single lost urchin wandering back and forth had skewed my survey results.

When all is said and done, this show is still about buying and selling but so far my contribution to the "backbone" of the economy had been meagre - a couple of long blacks and a bite to eat. Still, a new John Deere was out of my league, and I didn't have much call for a picket-post driver, even if they would deliver to my car.

A one-year-old black llama was seriously tempting but he wasn't for sale. So I settled on a pair of possum fur and merino wool socks and a bag of country fudge. Not much, but every bit helps.

Turns out there were plenty of other lively shoppers to compensate though - about 115,000 over the four-day market. Between them they rang up $74 million in on-site sales and boosted that to $225 million with after-event purchases. Little wonder, then, that a $4 million international business and visitors' lounge has been added this year.

Come 3pm, the old farming clock was ticking loudly and I was ready for home. Heading for the exit I found myself in a street I hadn't yet explored.

There was a "Beach" somewhere as well that I hadn't found. Still, it will all be there again this year under the Premier Feature banner of Energy Efficient Farming - a case of conservation being good business and good business being conservation.

I can feel another early-morning start coming on.

When is it?

Fieldays 2004 runs from June 16-19.

Getting there

Mystery Creek is 12km south of Hamilton, on Mystery Creek Rd, 500m past Hamilton Airport.

By car: From the north, take State Highway 1 to Cambridge and follow the Fieldays' signs. From the south, take State Highway 3 and follow the signs.

Public Transport: Buses leave Hamilton Transport Centre and Chartwell every half hour 7.30-10.30am. Fare $4 each way.

Accommodation

Hamilton Visitor Centre (07) 839 3580, Cambridge Information Centre (07) 823 3456 or Ellen Millington (07) 823 6404.

Tickets and Opening Times

Adults $12 (or $10 if pre-paid by Friday), children $6 (5-14 yrs), preschoolers free. Gates open 8am to 5pm.

Parking

Free parking near the venue and at the airport. A shuttle bus runs between the airport and Gate 1 every 15 minutes.

Further information

Fieldays
tel: (07) 843-4499
email tickets@fieldays.co.nz