At at 3pm it was 29.3degC.
''I'm burning up,'' said face-painter Elizabeth Dalton, daubing the face of a child.
''It is so hot,'' said Outback Family Amusements worker Bevan Harvey, resting across the front bench seat of a truck cab in shade.
The setting up of the bouncy castle and obstacle challenge had been a sweltering slog .
A barefoot Johanna O'Neill (8), of Mosgiel, said the scorching canvas would not allow anyone to meander across the obstacle challenge.
To beat the heat, Sam McCormack (9), of Dunedin, poured a bottle of cold water over his head.
The refreshing respite was brief, as he was bone-dry again within minutesJayden Cochrane (12), of Kaka Point, walked barefoot across the car park gravel to enter the fashion in the field competition.
It was his first entry in the parade, but he was confident his pose at the end of the catwalk - arms folded, in an ensemble including mirrored sunglasses and the owner ribbon of his grandmother Cecily Cochrane - would win the judges over.
Jayden had toughened his feet by walking barefoot across stony terrain before summer.
However, others had left their conditioning too late.
Chris McNoe (18), of Dunedin, piggybacked barefoot Cody McMullan (18) across the gravel to save his friend from a painful walk.
''My feet are as soft as butter,'' Mr McMullan said.
Oliver Karai, of Vanuatu, had travelled from Cromwell with several of his countrymen, who were taking a break from vineyard and winery work.
At the racecourse, some of the men wore puffer jackets and beanies.
Mr Karai said although the sun in Otago generated colder summer temperatures than in Vanuatu, it was less forgiving.
''It is not as hot, but it burns.''
