(Erik's Webhome Online)

    The Perth Royal Show is obviously the biggest yearly event in Perth. With attendance reaching a high of 450,000, this event expands its scope each year. At the moment, the carnival-like event can no longer be held in a day. It now spans a week (this year from 25^th September till 2^nd October). Four of my friends and I went on the day when the opening ceremony was held, ie. on Monday(27^th September) - weird but true.

    It was an expensive day. Contrary to popular belief, I did not play any of those 'flying machines' or games but tried the Ghost Train Ride(my first and last time). It was the worst experience I've ever had not because it was scary but because it was such a rip off. There was nothing exciting about the ride at all and it was over in a matter of seconds. I still can't get over the fact that I actually paid to be on board. I'm such a sucker.

    However, being wiser after that, I saved my money for a block of cheese (from The Margaret River Cheese Co.). We had samples of the cheese and it was so good that I bought one for $4.50. I bought it yesterday and it is now nearly gone already. Other food samples were ice cream from Peters & Brownes, yoghurt, gourmet dips and milk. I bought a bottle of yoghurt drink too. Then I 'wisely' bought a cheese, chicken and ham burger from Red Rooster, only to realise it was another unfair deal. The burger apparently looks like it's for babies! Yeah, but I suppose you can't win all the time.

    Well, enough of the bad experience. Now, let me tell you about the fantastic creatures I saw and also the spectacular performances.

    First, the animals. Among the unusual ones I saw were some very ugly looking chickens, misshapen pigeons and my beloved llamas and alpacas. I actually managed to get a picture with an alpaca but unfortunately, the picture turned out to be a double-exposure phenomenon - see if you can spot me. (If not try rotating the picture 90 degrees anti-clockwise. *Sigh*) It was fantastic. I really like their long necks and extremely soft and smooth wool. It's even softer than that of a sheep. The common animals that we saw were cows, camels, sheep, horses, cats, dogs, snakes, chickens, ducks and pigs.

    For the performances, I can say that I didn't watch all of it but caught some of the major ones. I love the New Zealand Army Band and the 'Flamin' Butterflies' most. The New Zealand Army Band is the liveliest band I've ever seen in my entire life. They danced, they sang and they marched and played their instruments. It was great. The 'Flamin' Butterflies' gave a wonderful performance too. We were so awed by their flame dance. They even performed the 'Human Catherine Wheel' which was a bright and amazing performance. They did come out a second time but the heavy rain extinguished all their flames. Anyway, watching it a second time wasn't that interesting anymore. Apart from those, we had police precision driving, where 8 police cars danced in synchrony, tractor dances - known as the 'Dancing Bobcats', Arabian Horse show, pony racing, Light Horse performance - a performance showing bonding and love for horses and the 15 minute-long fireworks display. The parachute event was cancelled due to unpredictable winds.

    We missed quite a number of performances but the whole day (and night) we spent there was well worth the money. We came back at about 9.30pm at night.

Note : All photos original

Proudly developed using Notepad.

Back