So what better way to start 2021 than get along to a course five minutes outside Omakau, place some bets and have some fun.
And you will not be alone. The Central Otago Trotting Club annual race meeting on January 2 - in exactly three weeks - is shaping up to be a real beltor.
Though the course only now holds one meeting a year it is one of the biggest harness meetings in the whole country, inside the top five.
In both course attendance and on-course betting, only the two main New Zealand Cup meetings at Addington in November, the Harness Jewels and Kaikoura are bigger.
Central Otago Trotting Club president Graham Sinnamon said he was hoping for a big turnout for what is fast becoming one of the biggest events in Central Otago over summer.
"Let’s face it, 2020 has been a rubbish year, not only for us in New Zealand but right around the world.
"With more domestic tourists around this summer and hopefully a good day it is shaping up to be a big crowd," Sinnamon said.
Sinnamon admitted much depended on the weather on the day but if it holds he was expecting plenty of punters.
Children are also catered for and there will be a high quality field competing on the track in a maximum of 11 races.
With the big crowd expected there will be plenty to eat and drink.
"The days of offering hot dogs and chips and a keg of beer are long gone. We have it all catered for, and for some of the groups which do the food it is their biggest day of the year."
Also for the punter, the club has managed to arrange to have more than 45 serviced betting windows where punters will be able to bet. Changes by the TAB have brought in automated self service betting machines on many courses which have not always gone down well.
With the galloping club moving to Cromwell and racing now in November instead of a day after the trotting club in January, the district and club could fully focus on January 2.
For health and safety reasons the crowd will not be allowed on the galloping track to get closer to the horses on the harness track on race day.
