Chips - and lies - fly

New Zealand veteran axeman Terry Rice (67), of Christchurch, competes in the standing block section of the teams event at the Southland Otago Axemen's Association's woodchopping competition in Cromwell yesterday. Photo by Linda Robertson.

The competition, the second in a circuit of six,

attracted entrants from as far away as Wales, club member Karen Corbin, of Riverton, said.

She was one of the few women from throughout the South Island to ''chop'' and said she did it because she loved the challenge.

''And it's a social thing. We get together at the end of a day and analyse things ... the boys all tell lies.''

There were four events in the competition - the underhand chop, the standing chop, double-sawing (two men) or Jack and Jill sawing (a man and a woman), and the axe throw.

Afterwards, there was a ''just for fun'' teams event in which six people joined forces to chop four logs and saw through another.

Local lad Brad Pako (16), the under-21 South Island champion and a member of the under-21 New Zealand team, also competed. He plans to compete in Canada and Wales next year. The circuit continues with an event in Gore today.