I had to shift some of my other regular jobs around to have this day off to go to the Perth Royal Show! I was seriously excited about it, even more as I would not spent it alone :-)
The Royal Shows around Australia started as agricultural get-togethers of the regional farmers and to compare their best cattle and other animals and farm produce with each other and nominate the best of the numerous categories they have. At some point they got the permission to call it royal and up to this date it is one of the main events of Perth. At 9:30am I made my way through really jam-packed trains to the Claremont showgrounds where I met Twiggy and we got inside. We got a map and a list of the day's activities and events and made our way towards the cookery pavillion.
We had a look at the different stalls and showbags and got the chance to pet a really soft-haired huge horse along the way.
Inside the cookery pavillion we were amazed at all the different cakes! I wanted to take a pictures of each one, they looked fabulous.
There were lots of other cookeries as well, like chocolate cakes and biscuits and pralines etc. We wanted to attend the cake decoration demonstration at 10am but at 10:10am there was still no sign of a demonstration, so we walked on to the next pavillion.
It was the Florist pavillion with great displays of the different regions of Western Australia and great flower arrangements. I have only done a beginners course in flower arrangement back in Manchester, so I had a bit of an understandment of how difficult some of these arrangements are and how much practice, craft skills and patience you need to do them.
I didn't know that Emu eggs are black! There were so many interesting displays and if you wanted you could spent hours in there getting all kind of information.
Back in the cookery pavillion there was still no demonstration in sight, so we walked on towards the Greenfingers Garden and the recycling stations.
We wandered around and landed in the Sideshow Alley with lots of (expensive) fair rides which remined me very much of the Stuttgarter Wasen or the more famous Munich Wiesn. We just had a stroll through but didn't get on any of the rides.
Then we came along this cattle judgement where they presented their best cattle and got prices (or not). Just then I received a phone call from Alicia, another German Au pair who lives close to me and with whom I have been to the Cannington Greyhound racetrack, that she has nearly reached the showground train station.
Twiggy and I passed the main arena on the way to the train station where we picked up Alicia.
We showed her the cookery and florist pavillion before we made our way to the Dairy pavillion. You could get all sorts of dairy products in there, especially chocolate and ice cream. There were long queues.
In front of the pavillion you could practice your milking skills and pet real calfs and see how they shave and clip them. Interesting...
Next we got to see a sheepdog demonstration. This dog had to get the three gooses into the blue box. It was so funny to watch it, especially as the gooses escaped several times and even with the help of a second dog one goose managed to break through the fence.
We then landed in the Alpaca pavillion (quite stinky in there) and watched a judgement round there too.
There were pigs and chicken and emus as well. We were quite scared of the huge emus.
But the baby emus look so cute, don't you think?
Outside a huge crowd has gathered to see the pig racing! But it was nearly 12:30pm by then and we wanted to get something to eat, so we didn't stay to watch the race.
So we went for the search of something nice to eat. Alicia and Twiggy went for German Bratwurst (what else should you eat while in Australia...) while I only got some chips as I had brought a big sandwich with me. We sat down at the main arena and watched the Grand Parade.
Quite a few of the cows and horses didn't like the idea of going the way their owner wanted to go or were to stressed out by all the noise and the crowds. One cow even ran away but luckily nobody got hurt and they catched it again.
After the parade the Air Raiders took over the show and went up and down the ramps. We really feared that some accident would happen sooner or later. And really, one of the bikers fell but nothing serious happened luckily.
After that we headed into the India Guest Nation pavillion with textiles, henna tattoos, food and telephone card stalls.
In the food court behind it we went through lots of different samples of honey, yoghurt, chocolate and other things. Next door we got into the Animal Nursery pavillion.
We petted goats, alpacas, ponies and guinea pigs and even an ugly turkey.
A little bit cultural went on in the Farm Art Gallery where we got into the game of guessing how much a pictures would cost. Some of them cost up to 8,000 AUD! Holy moly, I should get my hostchildren's brushes and start doing some myself...
We had a quick look at farm machinery and I loved the idea of kids racing against each other in a farm truck. Haha!
We glimpsed here and there into other pavillions, there surely are lots around. At around 4pm Alicia and I finally wanted to get one of the famous Showbags and there is even a whole alley full of stalls selling different showbags. They vary in size, price and what you get. From 4 AUD to over 100 AUD, from chocolate to toys to music and entertainment you had a massive choice.
Alicia got herself the Flake showbag and I got the Cherry Ripe one. I love me some chocolate and I also have a card set in my bag.
On our way back to the train station we peeked into the Lego Brick Zone and took a picture of the three of us together.
Seriously, some people don't know how to zoom and take a nice pictures without all the stuff in the background and on the side...
Anyway, at 5pm we catched a train back into the city where I said Goodbye to Twiggy. I really hope to see her again! Well, for Alicia I was sure to see her again as we are planning our next day out together.
But until then my next stop will be: the Perth Zoo! With my hostchildren!
Yours Perth-Royal-Show-visiting Stefanie
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Have your say now! Would you do the same thing or would you do it differently? Do you have any travel tipps for me for my onwards travels? let me know!