A guest entry, from Mr. St Ives

My city slicker friends, it gives me much joy to bring to you the spectacle that is the Newcastle Show 2009.

Upon paying our $15 entry fee, we were brought face to face with the hustle and bustle of the regional show…

Note from Mrs St Ives: this was only early in the morning before all the screaming rug rats and their so-called guardians arrived.

But this was only the beginning………….

(Now at this point, Mrs St Ives would like me to point out that I quite enjoyed the show and commented that while smaller than the Royal Easter Show, it was actually possible to move around the place and get on a ride with less than 10 minutes waiting. Indeed it was most enjoyable, even if the live acts mostly comprised of tone deaf teeny boppers from local high schools.)

Some of the many highlights included:

The fantastic scones, jam and cream from the CWA (and lets face it, if the Country Women’s Association can’t do scones, who can?). This was not to be outdone by the other local delicacies…… (These looked so good, but alas after my scones and other treats, I sadly could not try one). But you won’t be able to have Sydney pies after trying the ones up here that actually contain steak, as opposed from the fat and gristle of most Sydney pies.

We then ventured on to get a caricature drawn of myself and Mrs St Ives, this was good fun and it will soon hang proudly in our new residence. This took us past the eight (YES ONLY EIGHT) showbag stalls and the wine tasting etc (BTW sojourn group, expect an invitation for a wine tasting party in a few months).

It was then on to the produce and arts judging (as seen here the cake judging was very intense and the fruit and vegetable display was very small – much to my disappointment).

But there were still scrarecrows, ducklings (well the ones that survived rough handling by many small children) – they were $4 each and we are sure many parents were lured into buying them otherwise suffer intolerable screaming and crying), and metal crafts.

To keep us amused we passed the excellent Cityrail model train exhibit (yes they can do something right) on our way to the farm animals. This gave Mrs St Ives a chance to reminisce about her farming days as we passed some rather large livestock, en route to seeing the petting area, where small animals were busy being beaten over the head by small children attempting to pat them.

The farming area reminded me that to some people Newcastle is the big town centre. These people could clearly be seen as they were tending the livestock or walking around in checked shirts and large “I have a farm” hats. It was almost like the uniform for people who lived outside a certain radius from Beaumont Street.

With the lingering scent of fresh cow manure in our nostrils, we retreated to the carnival rides where the day had begun (there were actually a very good selection) for a ride on the Ferris wheel before heading home.

And so the show goes on… and the Newcastle Show Holiday tradition continues. Thank you Newcastle for an extra day off work.