In what may have been the most bizarre sales pitch of my life, I rallied around the crew in the hostel to sell them the idea of going to vote for a cat in an Election in the self-proclaimed republic of Whangamomona. I didn’t know how to pronounce it, I didn’t know if the cat would win, but somehow, I convinced my new found friends the Whangamomona Republic Day was an event not to miss.
Having based myself in New Plymouth for the first few weeks of my time living in New Zealand, I was quickly coming to realise there were a lot of weird and wacky things celebrated here in New Zealand.
From the giant carrots and L&P bottles I’d passed on the highways, to the surprisingly great New Plymouth light festival where we had seen a fire dancer accidentally launch their flaming button into a row full of children in the days before, the squad were as equally down for embracing Aotearoa’s bizarre attractions.
The main event of Whangamomona Republic Day is for sure the presidential elections where anyone, or rather anything, can stand. We all opted to put our ballot down for the pub cat, who mysteriously went missing just before the votes were count and foul play was expected.
Luckily, the cat turned up, and I got to hold him just before the national news interviewed the cat for New Zealand TV and websites… yup, told you it was somewhat bizarre though after living in New Zealand for a bit, I can tell you I’ve seen stranger stories published on slow news days.
Sadly, the cat wasn’t the winner in 2017, and a human came out ruling supreme. But in the past four-legged friends have been the president, including Billy Gumboot the Goat and Tai the Poodle…. according to my local news research, the poodle had an assassination attempt.
I think that’s about all I’ve got to say on Whangamomona Republic Day, in what might be the most bizarre article I’ve ever written! But, if you find yourself in the area, especially on Whangamomona Republic Day, do swing by for something you really won’t forget.
While the rest of the year the Whangamomona Republic returns to a more calm state with far fewer visitors, this is a rarely visited side of the country and a true New Zealand hidden gem.
Know any other crazy cat elections or similar stories in the world? Let me know in the comments; I’m keen to continue my wacky tour of the world’s events!
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Loved your slant on Republic day they are an awesome hardworking kiwi bunch I have assisted a few times as my daughter was in the team and we kinda got roped in to help this included getting up early traveling to Hamilton in old fashioned clothing (which got extremely hot) selling passports sheep race tickets and a souvenir newspaper to all aboard the very long train heading to Whangamomona it was some trip but well enjoyed by all.
Haha I’ve never heard of Whangamomona before – what a name!