THE SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW - 2009

Every year at Easter the Royal Agricultural Society, formed in 1822, holds one of the largest Shows of its kind in the country and with over 15,000 competitors and nearly 1,000,000 visitors during the 14 days it is held, it must in fact, be one of the largest of its kind in the World. Naturally there are lots of animals, that goes without saying, but added to the animals are so many activities, produce, manufactured goods, fun fairs, demonstrations of various kinds, entertainments for the whole family, food, drink, fashion - the list goes on and on - so that if you wanted to see everything you would need several days in order to do so and then you would still miss out on something.

My day at the Show this year started when I left home at about 7.30 am in order to catch the special Show bus. While there is plenty of parking for cars (if you can find a space !) it is much better to sit back and let someone else work their way through Sydney peak hour traffic and then have them drive you back again in the evening at the end of a very long day. When you buy a ticket to the Show online, the bus ride is included in the price so what could be easier.

After arriving at the Show I realised that the yard dogs were about to teach a few sheep what life was all about so I hurried over to the area called the Overflow to listen to their handler explain how they were working under great difficulties in a much smaller area than the one they were used to at home. There were three dogs working about 9 or 10 sheep and they certainly had those sheep under control taking them from a small open area before driving them through a race, over a ramp and then down onto the ground again into the small area. Any sheep that decided to go where the dogs didn't want it to go was soon pulled back into line,

We were told that back on the property there were 17 or 18 working dogs to take care of several mobs of sheep and that because various sections of the property could not be reached by vehicles then the dogs were sent off by themselves to bring the sheep back to the homestead. These dogs had been accustomed to sheep since they were 9 month old puppies when they were left in a yard with them to see how they reacted.

I remember years ago, when I went to visit a sheep station near Canberra, hearing the owner telling 3 or 4 dogs to go and get that mob from the paddock and bring them up here .... and a few minutes later the sheep came trotting up with the dogs urging them along..

As usual, click on the image to see a larger version.

























From the dogs it was on to the woodchopping events, always a favourite with the crowd. I arrived just as they were setting up the logs for the next event, first of all securing them in the clamps and then creating a platform to stand on while chopping the horizontal logs.








All the competitors do not start at the same time as a handicap system is in place and each man starts chopping when his handicap number is reached. If the handicap someone is on is 9 then he would start chopping when the counting reached 9 with the others joining in when their number was called. If the handicaps were all in the 20s then the counting would begin from 20 or so.








Not all of the competitors were youngsters.


The concentration of it .......


Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and Queensland had representatiives in the events but there were entrants from New Zealand and the USA, too.


..... going .....


..... gone !

Then it was on to the horizontal logs.








Then for the clean up of the area - a major task in itself


From the Woodchopping Arena it was on to the Main Arena for a brief stop where a television interview was in progress in one of the stands .....


..... before a visit to the Dome Pavilion for a look at the District Exhibits consisting of displays of produce from all over NSW and South East Queensland. Other large pavilions were connected to the Dome where Arts and Crafts entries were displayed in large glass cases.










No Show is complete without a visit to the Showbag Pavilion - a child's paradise ! These used to be known as sample bags many years ago and were given away free of charge. Along with the name change came the introduction of a charge which has grown rapidly over the years until now some of them cost $25 or more ! I indulged myself and bought two bags - a Dairy Farmers Tote Cooler bag with an ice pack, magazine, milk, a couple of yoghurts, a new yoghurt drink and a squeezy pack of yoghurt which can be frozen for lunch boxes, vanilla custard, cream and sour cream, all for $12. The other bag was a Darrell Lea Pig Out Bag with Milk chocolate Rocklea Road, soft eating liquorice, chocolate coated peanuts, jelly snakes, strawberries and cream lollies, mint chews, a chocolate mint nougat bar and a sheet of coupons for discounts on future purchases of Darrell Lea products. This bag cost $15 ...... and I am rationing all these out to myself in spite of the Pig Out name of the bag !!!

Before I weakened and bought a few more bags, I decided to head back to the Main Arena where the harness horses were competing, all beautifully turned out with glossy, high stepping horses and immaculately turned out vehicles.




The winner receiving the Championship Ribbon .....


..... and making a lap of honour afterwards.


By this time I was ready for lunch so after buying some calamari and chips I found a place high in one of the stands and settled down for the afternoon. I would have preferred to have been in the stand opposite in the following photograph so that I could have a closer view of some of the Harness Classes but that was for Members only - way beyond my pocket !


The next class to be judged was the magnificent giants of the horse world pulling the business vehices of years gone by.






No, it wasn't a real horse on the back.




Then the Show Jumping events started.


Some of them sailed over the fences with no probems at all ......




..... whilst others had a little problem .....


..... but were soon reminded of why they were there.


At the end of the events, the jumps were cleared away very quickly to make way for the polo match which followed.



On the website for the Show, a rodeo was listed for one of the evening's events, which I would have loved to have watched, but no mention was made of it in the ring announcements - just a display by the Xtreme Korruption Yamaha MotoX team followed by a Laser and Fireworks Finale. It was becoming dark by this time and the sky was lit up by constant flashes of lightning as a forecast thunderstorm approached so with two small boys sat next to me who delighted in bouncing up and down on a rubber cushion which made a very rude sound - amusing for a short while - and pushing their way backwards and forwards as they went hunting around the area, I decided that it was time for me to head home.

Just as I was backing down my driveway an hour and a half later, the heavens opened. The boys had done me a favour !!!