The Sydney Royal Easter Show is a national institution. We were very excited and expectant of how this would play out. This massive event is held at the Olympic Park and seemed to have something for everybody.
Once again we were to use our trusty travel passes, this time to catch the train to the venue, a 15 minute journey, but with a difference. Sydney's integrated transport system is a real gem and in my opinion is organised as a public service, not as a way for private business to make a fast buck. As expected the trains ran every 5 minutes to the Olympic Park, meaning no queues, no hassle and a chance to ride on the double decker trains. Taking advantage of no low bridges, twice as many passengers can be moved in this piggy back mode. It was fantastic!!
Upon arrival, we purchased our entry tickets at the railway ticket office, again so well organised and designed to avoid any queuing. We arrived fresh and ready for a busy day.
There is a curious institution at the show, i.e." The Showbag," . This strange phenomena is provided by the many sponsors of the event they are purchased and are a kind of low value goody bag. The locals make a big show of collecting as many as possible and its amusing to see all the kids weighed down with their carrier bags.
The key to enjoying the whole day is good planning and we had a good plan, designed by Ben, to maximise our time and ensure we saw everything. Within two minutes we were struggling with the enormous size of the task. So we prioritised and chose, the woodchopping, the livestock exhibits, but we started with the Shetland pony racing followed by the motorcycle stunt spectacular, just to add a little class to the start of our day.
The stunt motorcycle display was very good, breathtaking tricks and pure adrenalin. The Shetland Pony racing was by contrast a more sedate affair, but the kids looked sweet as they battled each other around the track.
The woodchopping is a major event and draws participant from the whole of Australia, New Zealand and Tasmania. It is a major event and is the climax to a season of events held throughout the year. It even has its own dedicated arena and has been at the show for over 100 years, now that's a sport with traditions!!
go to it boys, axes at the ready, chop!!!It brought home to us the outdoor/outback feel and it was by no means confined to male participants. The Jack and Jill broad saw competition proved that the pioneer spirit was still alive and kicking in both sexes.
As at all shows of this type the fast food on offer was extensive providing many opportunities for snackettes.
Among our favourites was the cheese dog on a stick. Pure rubbish, but so tasty. For lunch Pauline and myself had the worst fish and chips you could have imagined, pure mush. This cause great amusement to Ben, who could not believe that with so much on offer, we has succeeded in finding the worst food outlet on the show ground.
The livestock displays were terrific, cattle, fowl, pig, sheep and horse were all on view, hundreds upon hundreds of them. Australia prides itself on its outdoor way of life and this show confirmed that stereotypes do have a basis in fact. Australians love their way of life as roughneck types. Nothing to deride, well done Australia you did us proud, what a great day.
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As we had dashed inside out of the rain, we had noticed a large tent like structure with the sign Hollywood Horror Show. We could not resist, we had to go inside.
As we entered the dark, we notice two teenage girls hanging back. Pauline took them under her wing, her mothering instinct took over, just as Freddie Kruger dashed out to meet us. Screams and panic ensued, Anna recoiled in horror and grabbed Ben for assistance, Pauline dashed off with the two girls.
How the attraction works is like this, you wander through a series of interconnected rooms, each one set as a scene from a well known horror film. Out from a secret hiding place will appear the main character, who with the aid of a sophisticated lighting system, i.e. strobe lights, fog and sound effects, will come towards you in a threatening manner. With the darkness all enveloping the atmosphere is tremendous and makes you run from one room to another. In the resultant panic, as we fled one particular scary encounter, I looked around to see Pauline thrashing around on the floor with one of the girls on top of her. In their panic, both had tripped each other and were on the ground with a man, carrying a chain saw, attempting to attack them. I had stomach cramps from the laughter. Anna had also injured herself, running into a wall, while fleeing Hannibal Lechter, but we survived and had tears of laughter in our eyes as we eventually ran out into the night. To the two girls, thank you, your contribution was terrific and to the people who ran and performed the show, even more thanks. Great entertainment.
We returned to the city centre again with no queues or hassle, another great day out and one which we will always remember. Well done to the Royal Sydney Easter Show.
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