Family Day at Wellington Racing Club

One of my clients is a horse racing track in Australia,
and I've spent the last few years working with them to promote specific annual events like the annual Cup Carnival, Ladies Day, and family race days.

Earlier this week we went to the Family Race Day at Wellington Racing Club - and it was really nice to be on the other side of the coin for a change!


The event has got to be one of the BEST value days out in Wellington. For $20 the whole family gets a long day out with so many activities. The kids started off with a colouring in competition, then they watched the Mad Hatter's Show (a children's singer/entertainer on stage), followed by lunch, a second colouring in competition and then to the bouncy castle area.

This part was truly amazing - SIX of the best bouncy castles I've ever seen! It kept both kids occupied for ages.

We'd now been at the race track for a good 2-3 hours and there was so much to do, we hadn't even seen a horse yet, let a lone a race!

Next came the fashion show! Alfie went first - anyone under 5 had to dress as a superhero, parade along the stage and receive a medal at the end, and a bag of fruit sticks, Alfie's favourite. He now can't wait for next year's parade.

Molly's category was far more serious, and was run as a proper contest - each entrant had a number and came onto the stage alone while the MC announced their name and a bit about their outfit - "Number 24 is Molly from Wellington. Her dress came all the way from England and she likes it because she loves all the colours..." . Molly did a little twirl on stage and then exited to the left (very quickly).

Finally after 3 or 4 hours, we got to watch a bit of horse racing! Don't you just love that sound of hoofs approaching...?

After a couple of races, the kids got to go on the race track for a Tug of War competition - boys against girls. While they were out on the track, I heard what sounded like a gazillion horse hoofs thundering underneath me and then I felt the railings I was leaning on begin to wobble and then shake hard....next people started shouting "Earthquake!" and everyone behind us rushed out of the stands and onto the field....all the while, the railings and the ground still shaking hard. Magnitude 6.3 - yikes.

But the Tug of War competition went on regardless...and the boys won. Which was lucky because Alfie doesn't take losing well (whereas Molly doesn't care).

When the kids came off the track after the competition, the whole race track was buzzing and talking about the earthquake. Alfie did his best impression of what Mum's worried face looked like after the quake...

(Note the empty stands in the back of the picture)

Afterwards it was time for a bit more fun, to take our minds off the quake so it was back to the bouncy castle area and time for a bit of face painting. Here is a very proud and happy White Jaguar and a Ninja...