Today, accompanied by our friends Matt and Toni, we took the boys to their first Canberra show. The show has been an annual attraction in Canberra since well before I was born, and to be honest, not much has changed. The show is a veritable time warp back to the mid-80s, the only changes being some of the pavilions and a handful of more modern rides. The rest of the show is remarkably unchanged by time – even some of the rides looked like the exact same rides from the eighties.
This unique insight is wonderful to share with my two boys, and the weather even played along. Despite overcast skies in the morning, as I correctly predicted the clouds burnt off by midday leaving us with beautiful blue skies and a moderate temperature.
Aside from the ridiculous $10 parking fee, getting to Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) is easy, and it’s not too far to walk to the gates. Once we entered and navigated through the rides and showbag areas, we arrived at the southern end of the pavilions. Here, Jake had his face painted (free) while Matt, Damian and I went into the first pavilion. We browsed through the lifestyle stalls and eventually found a coffee stall for a couple of long blacks and skim milk.
After we caught up with Toni, Toni and Jake we found ourselves patting a live baby crocodile, amongst a reptile exhibit.
Jake had some fun while we inspected the many reptilian specimens on display. From here we took the main road and snacked on “chips on a stick” (with chilli) as we navigated north. The next pavilion was a food/competition hall, containing many show prize winning fruits, vegetables and cakes.
Just to the north of the pavilion was a live sheep dog trial, so we stopped and took seats to watch as one young sheepdog herded a bunch of sheep around the test area. At many times the plucky dog jumped up and ran on top of the sheep! Further north we encountered a collection of vintage Land Rovers, and just beyond that a Range Rover demonstration area where the vehicles were climbing to an incredible height.
We turned back towards the agricultural area and inspected cattle which were being judged for show awards. Kids were sharing the stalls with their livestock, taking a break from the sun and heat outside.
We headed out and found our way to the wood cutting competition area, which was running a bit behind schedule. Here we watched three different heats of wood chopping, the highlight being the tree chopping event where contestants had to cut wedges into the trees and ascend to slug it out with a heavy hardwood at the top.
As we started to turn south, we found yet another pavilion, this time with food and hobbies. Of particular note was the Canberra Lego Users Group, which had awarded prizes for various custom Lego builds.
After lunching in the food area, we retraced our steps to the first pavilion, and eventually wound our way back to the showbags section. The boys started to get tired by this stage, so we dodged the array of rides as we found the exit and left for the day.
All in all, an excellent first show for the boys, and a renewal of old memories for myself.
It’s not a bad tradition to see live and well in the 21st century!