It’s Showtime

One of the highlights of the social calendar each year is the Bathurst Show.  We have missed the last few,as we have been away, so it was nice to attend yesterday.

The Historic Car Club always has a display of vehicles.

They were parked in the shade of this wonderful golden elm.  It was perfect autumn weather.

Some other interesting machinery was on show as well.  Rather a slow way to bale hay.

We we supposed to take “Olga” along, but Mick was feeling a  bit off colour in the morning so we decided to leave her at home.  However, we did get to participate in the grand parade, driving a mate’s Datsun Fairlady.

We considered driving out of the showgrounds after the parade and taking her for a proper spin, but thought our mate might be a little displeased.

Here we all are waiting to go.

 

There were some rather splendid stock in the parade too.

Of course, horses are a major feature.

After the parade we headed into the pavilions to have a look around.  A feature is always a section of the Western Districts display from the Royal Easter Show.  This year it the theme was “Year of the Farmer” and was really impressive.

There was a good display of local crafts.

This was the winner for an item made from recycled materials – all old flanellette shirts.  Very effective.

The kids always get into the creations from vegetables.  This was not a winner, but it gave us a chuckle.

We always like to see if anyone we know has won a prize.  We were thrilled to see that an old school mate of Mick’s won the champion fleece, another friend did well in the cooking and yet another in the art.

The show wouldn’t be the same without the colourful stalls and sideshow alley.  I was pleased to see that dolls on a stick are still around.  They even had kewpie dolls.

It was good to see that the Ferris wheel has made a return after being absent for a few years.  Unfortunately, there was no merry-go-round.  When we were kids there were always two beauties, one was even steam driven.  I wonder what has happened to them.

At least there were still the clowns. We love the colour and the sounds of side show alley.  Of course, it is much better at night, but we now leave that to all the teenagers.  It certainly brings back lots of memories, though.

It is amazing how much time you spend catching up with people you hardly ever see, except for once a year at the show.  We seemed to do more talking than anything else, but then, we have been known to have a bit of a chat.

We had a great day out but didn’t end up staying for the fire works, as they were on fairly late.  The show has had a few dramas over the last few years, so it was good to see large crowds and that it is back on its feet.  Now we will look forward to next year.