Cracking good time at Teddy Bear's picnic

Some eggs reached dirt, some competitors were disqualified for holding the egg on the spoon and others managed to reach the finish line with raw eggs intact.

About 70 people, adults and children, participated in Teddy Bear's annual picnic at Larnach Castle

It was the first time that Cadbury was not involved, the company having closed its Dunedin plant earlier this year. So it's the raw eggs, not the chocolate eggs, that are used for egg and spoon races.

Children seem to take the challenge seriously, focusing on slow and careful transportation of their eggs to the finish line.

In adult races, competition was the name of the game, adults throwing caution (and several eggs) to the winds.

Earlier in the day, the young picnickers played a game of "Pass the Parcel", had a teddy bear fashion show on a tartan track in the ballroom before an early morning picnic, then to the front of the castle for the challenge of eggs and spoons. Conner Gullen of Dunedin, Sarah Lyon of the Catlins, Jane Snow of Dunedin and Eileen Gibson of Dunedin also face each other in the race for eggs and spoons.