A big lunchtime crowd watched the annual dodgeball champs in Earnslaw Park yesterday, with many of the 32 teams sporting weird and wacky uniforms.
While chaos ensued on the park, a more serious meeting of some of New Zealand’s top business leaders took place at Skyline, where a hot topic of discussion was the recently announced tourist levy.
Aside from the levy, they discussed the key theme of this year’s lunch, "what is meant by destination management for a town like Queenstown". Meanwhile, over the Crown Range on Cardrona skifield there were tumbles, laughter, and a whole lot of barking throughout the day as the mountain hosted the festival for the first time.
The dog derby was the standout event, as dogs and their owners raced together down the mountain in chaotic fashion.
The townies race was won by defending champion Sean Beale, of Arrowtown, and his dog, Sox, while first-time entrant Mike Wilson, of Wanaka, prevailed in the musterers race with his huntaway, Jessie.
Mr Wilson was ahead of the pack virtually the entire race, which he attributed to a good start amid the confusion at the top of the course among a throng of barking dogs.
The shepherd said he entered the race because it looked like "a bit of fun, something to split up winter a bit" and did not rule out defending his title next year.
Nearby, snowboarders and skiers tested themselves in an inaugural Winter Festival event, the snow skate slalom.
A snow skate is essentially a skateboard with a single ski attached to the bottom.
Wanaka local Richard Johnson took top honours after finishing the approximately 50m slalom course with the fastest time. The "snowboarder at heart" he said it felt a bit different, but he just "pointed it straight".
Rounding off the events at Cardrona was the dog-barking competition, won by Tom Falconer, of Gore, and his dog, Jim, who produced booming barks in the tiebreaker.
