xenith | Royal Launceston Show 2008

I has loot.

Not a very wide variety, and I'd eaten one of the apples, but loot is loot.

Once upon the showgrounds were at Elphin, and in the middle of them, so we were told, was the largest show arena in the country. The rest of the show -- the cottage industries & food hall, the show bag alley, with its hodgepodge of buildings, the kennel and permanent rings, the grandstand, the stables & cat shed & cow shed & goat shed & sheep shed, the pavilions, the animal nursery, sideshow alley and the other little buildings were spread around it.

Then a few years back, the site was sold and the show moved out to Inveresk, to York Park, adjoining the old rail yards and around Aurora Stadium. The first time I went here, I hadn't been to the Royal Launceston for a few years and it was OK but nothing to get excited about. That must have been 2003.

The Royal Hobart is two week after Launceston, and in between is Longford Agricultural Show. A lot of exhibitors who come from the mainland for the Royals, or just for Hobart, also go to Longford, so it's a decent sized show, but cheaper. When we were very young, our parents took us to Longford instead of Launceston. Until we got to an age where we hassled them to take us to Launceston, where we went from then on.

I say this, because in 2004, the question came up "Are we going to the show this year?" and my sister and I looked at each other, and we took her kids to Longford. And we had fun (and it was cheaper).

The next year we were back at Launceston. I think this was because sister had her cat entered. The cats were house in a separate building and a lot of the livestock were in sheds and there was a large building used for government displays & the food hall & the fashion display & various commercial displays. I think everything else was in tents. The dogs were in tents with rope rings. The animals nursery, what they had of it, was in a tent. It wasn't too bad though, there were garden display and a snake handler under the stadium. I couldn't find the cottage crafts though :(

Then 2006, where they no longer had the big, indoor space (it's now part of the Uni's School of Art). I walked in, past the scattering of things in tents, saw nothing of interest, through side show alley, stopped in the cow shed to take photos, then gave up and went to meet my sister who was watching the dogs. Total time, about half an hour. The cottage crafts section, we walked past it on the way out, had some impressive entries though. Despite it being Saturday, it was rather quiet. My comment at the time, "I think everyone who went on Thursday (the holiday) went home & told their friends how crappy it was, so they didn't bother to go."

So come 2007, we decided to go Longford again, except I ended up doing something else that day.

Now this year, I assumed I'd go to Longford again, but as it turned out, I decided to give Launceston another try. I blame

gillpolack for this :)

I decided to go on Friday, as there'd be less people there. Was a bit worried that some of the exhibits might not be open too. The cats, for example, are only one Thursday & Saturday. Friday also had the advantage of there being more buses, than on a Saturday or holiday.

The main (only?) gate is also the main gate for Aurora Stadium, which meant the cottage industries and cats-if-there'd-been-anyway, which are shoved in under the stadium, were just inside the gate. This was a good start.

From there, the walk around the stadium went past a place selling bird callers & bubble blowers.

Next, something I'd seen from the road -- a chainsaw sculptor.

I find this whole thing quite amazing, and I usually like to watch it, but having just got there, I wanted to see what else was happening.

Adjoining the chainsaw-wielding sculpter was a display of old engines.

The sign leaning against the tire says, "1932 Model CS Lister Diesel Motor. 5 hp with a maximum of 600rpm. Made in England and used for pumping water and driving milking and shearing machines." and a few more paragraphs but I'm not sure if they apply to the thing on the trailer or not.