Photo by Jane Dawber.
A date weekend at the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival gave
a Milton couple the sweet taste of success.
A new section, aptly named "open and eat" was won by Keith
Gillies, who narrowly beat his wife, Sarah, in the final.
Mr Gillies said he and his wife had travelled to Bluff for
oysters for years but had never been to the oyster festival.
The crowd was asked for volunteers for the competition and
with free oysters on offer, it was too good an opportunity to
miss, Mr Gillies said. They competed against eight others to
open and eat half a dozen oysters.
"We've been down [in Bluff] getting and eating oysters for
years so I'm pretty good at opening them. There were a couple
of guys there who had never opened an oyster in their life."
The festival was the couple's "date weekend", and both agreed
it was an excellent day.
"We both got up there and froze on the first oyster. The
festival had a great crowd and good entertainment and we'll
be back again next year," Mrs Gillies said.
Section overseer Alan Mitchell said Mr Gillies "only just"
beat his wife in the new section.
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