I love The Ekka (aka the exhibition or the Royal Queensland Show). Every year I try to go. This year I’d booked tickets and had been chatting about it with my daughters for months. There was a new nights show we all wanted to see.
I flew up on Friday evening on Qantas Flight (QF) 1554 and when I arrived Dad was watching the Brisbane Broncos defeat the team from Illawarra.
After a restless sleep the girls and I went to Westfield Chermside to get some groceries for Mum and grab a bite to eat for breakfast.
I went with a nice slice of coconut loaf and a tall white chocolate mocha.
Coconut loaf from Starbucks Westfield Chermside
After taking Miss14 and Miss18 to gymnastics training Miss20 and I did a few things to help with her university study.
If you want to see the photographs as a gallery check out Google Photos. Click on one image to see it full size. To see the EXIF data (including a map if the photograph was geotagged) click on the information (i) icon in the top right corner. You can navigate through the gallery using the arrow keys or by swiping if you’re using a tablet or smartphone. Here’s another gallery that I created with Adobe Lightroom web gallery module.
We picked up Miss14 and Miss18 at 2 pm and proceeded to Wooloowin Train Station to catch a train to Fortitude Valley Station and then the Loop ride.
Wooloowin Train StationWooloowin Train StationWooloowin Train StationWooloowin Train StationThe new communications equipment at Fortitude Valley Train Station
When we arrived we went straight to the racing pigs to check out how these little porkers run around a ring and dive into a pool of water.
Pig racing at The Ekka. Diving pigs too.Pig racing. Diving pigs too.
We then went to the food pavilion and checked out the free tasting treats. We had caramelised onion dip, doughnuts, bread, meatballs and other samples. We then went through and bought some dumplings and samosas. They were delicious.
Next on the list of things to do was the cake decoration display.
Cake decoratingCake decoratingCake decorating
We’d agreed that at around 4.45 pm we’d wander over to the main arena to settle in for the evening’s entertainment. But before that we had one very important thing to do.
The best ice cream in the whole world is the strawberry sundae made by volunteers for The Prince Charles Hospital. If you’ve never had one you need to go to The Ekka and try one. They are so good when I worked at The Royal Brisbane Hospital in 1995 we used to go over everyday and get someone on the inside to buy a tray for us and bring them back to the laboratory.
Gary Lum eating a strawberry sundae at The Ekka.Strawberry sundae at The Ekka
After inhaling the ice cream we went to the main arena and sat on Machinery Hill.
We watched the horse whisperers and then the wood chop and then the rest of the light entertainment waiting for the monster trucks, motorcycles and drift cars.
I apologise these photographs are pretty crap. They’re mostly unprocessed and RAW out of the camera. I used a long lens with an aperture that was too small. The shutter speed was too long for sharp shots. I hope the ‘vibe’ of the photographs are okay.
Wood chop competition at The Ekka
After the wood chop Miss20 went and bought some popcorn which we devoured.
Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.Saturday night fun at The Ekka. Monster trucks, motorcycles, and burn outs.
The entertainment ended with fireworks. I love fireworks. I’m so grateful I have eyes and ears to see and hear them. They are so beautiful. The Ekka fireworks are awesome.
I apologise these photographs are pretty crap. They’re unprocessed and RAW out of the camera.
Fireworks at The EkkaFireworks at The EkkaFireworks at The EkkaFireworks at The Ekka
After the fireworks we walked through sideshow alley and settled down to share a foot (12 inches) long Dagwood super dog.
Gary Lum eating a Dagwood dog at The EkkaFoot long Dagwood dog at The Ekka
We left on the train, got off at Central Train Station and proceeded to have a late night Maccas run. I had a cheeseburger, small chips and vanilla thick shake.
Post Ekka late night snack at Central Train Station. McDonalds cheeseburger, small fries and a vanilla thick shake.
After a much better sleep Mum and Dad made us all waffles with eggs, bacon and sausage.
Sunday breakfast in Brisbane. Bacon, sausage and egg with waffle and strawberries and tomato.
Have you ever been to The Ekka? How did you spend your weekend?
Miss17 had been ill during the week with an upper respiratory tract infection and when I arrived on Friday evening Miss13 was febrile having been infected by her older sister. Fortunately Miss19 was well. Despite being ill though Miss13 was adamant she wanted to go out and enjoy the day. What a trooper.
The morning looked a little moody
Miss13 and Miss17 both had gymnastics training first so I started the day with fried eggs and avocado with a mug of coffee. Mum has worked out that my diet is mainly protein so she had some eggs and avocado ready for me. What a great Mum. With her new iPad she now receives an almost daily feed of my food photography and even though she has complimented it she did say on the weekend she much prefers the photographs I shoot of the lake and pelicans.
Starting the day with a good breakfast
After picking up the girls from training we agreed we’d catch the bus from the Chermside bus exchange straight to The Ekka. In the past we’ve caught the train but this bus is fabulous, we can walk to the exchange and the bus takes a direct route using the new tunnel system straight to the Brisbane RNA show grounds. With my Translink GoCard it couldn’t be more simple.
On arriving we sought food for lunch. With no desire to dive straight into Dagwood dogs and strawberry ice cream sundaes we went to the food hall and looked around. There is no shortage of food to enjoy, what there is a shortage of is tables and chairs for patrons. After walking around we agreed on dumplings and walked outside to the dog pavilion and ate while we watched some dog judging.
We all had some pork and prawn dumplings and we shared some barbecue pork buns. It was all good and filled the holes in our bellies.
Pork and prawn dumplings at The EkkaBarbecue pork buns at The Ekka
The dog judging was cute and reminded the girls to buy dog treats for Nelson.
After eating, we went back to the food hall to check out all the displays and enjoy the samples on offer. It’s possible to consume enough free snacks to substitute lunch. Not that I would ever do that 🙂
On leaving the food hall I was approached by a young lady to be interviewed for the RNA and Queensland Museum. The project involves interviewing people at The Ekka for about five minutes asking questions about early memories of The Ekka, what it is we like about it and in three words define it. The RNA will use the information for its future planning to improve the show and the Queensland Museum will put some of the filmed interviews on display. After signing three waivers I sat down had a few photographs taken and then began answering questions. I opened with early memories of attending the show with my grandmother and parents over the years and the stories they would tell of free sample bags and show bags costing as little as ten cents each in the 1960s. I explained how the show is great for city dwellers to understand and appreciate more what happens in the country and on farms. It gives kids and adults regular exposure to agriculture so we don’t forget where we get our meat and produce from. Finally I summed up the show in three words, viz., Queensland, Happiness and Food.
There were three things on my food list for The Ekka 2014, 1. A strawberry ice cream sundae, 2. a Dagwood dog, and 3. a Funnel cake.
Funnel cakes are an American state fair food that is like a waffle and a doughnut combined. In The Ekka guide there was an article which I read about which I reproduced here. Funnel_cakes
Twisty Trapeze Funnel cakeStrawberry Funnel cakeGorgeous caramel crunch Funnel cake with caramel toffee and nutsThe Funnel cake stall was really rocking alongThe Funnel cake stall was really fun
We went for a walk to check out the cake decorating and photography exhibits. The cakes were amazing. So many fantastic works of art. Every show I attend I always visit the cake decorating exhibit. Every year the standard seems to get better.
Some of the cakes that were award winners in the Cake Decorating competition.
After the cakes and photography we went for a walk through all the animal pavilions and checked out the exhibits. I didn’t shoot that many photographs in the halls because I wanted to really enjoy seeing all the animals. I did capture a few short videos in the poulty section though because of the noise and well, chooks and ducks are cool.
At this stage Miss13 started feeling a little more poorly and wanted to rest. We took the opportunity to sit outside and enjoy The. Best. Part. Of. The. Ekka.
I just love strawberry ice cream sundaes that are sold to support The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation. The best description comes from The Ekka website
The Ekka Strawberry Sundae is mouth-watering top to bottom, from the crunchy wafer cone to the smooth white ice-cream, sweet chopped strawberries, delicious gourmet strawberry ice-cream, swirls of fresh cream and topped off with a tasty fresh Queensland strawberry.
My favourite food at The Ekka is the strawberry ice cream sundae
Unfortunately I horribly overexposed the photograph but this was so good. The strawberry ice cream is so rich and creamy, the chopped strawberries so sweet and the white ice cream is just that pure ice cream. Perfect.
We’d agreed that at about 4 pm we’d find a good spot to sit in the main arena so we could watch all the big events from a good vantage. We had some time to kill and Miss13 was feeling a little better so we went for a walk through side show alley. Miss17 wanted to have a go at a few of the games so she tried throwing rings at bottles and archery. No luck on the bottles but the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages was watching Miss17 try to use a bow and arrow.
We found good seats in the arena three rows from the front. The arena filled up pretty quickly with everyone having the same idea of getting a good seat.
To pass the time Miss13 and Miss19 went to the show bag hall and bought some show bags. They bought me one full of my favourite potato chips. Miss17 and I went to buy dinner when Miss13 and Miss19 returned. We had a voucher for 20% off from the burger bar so burgers it was.
A Burger Bar hamburger
The burger wasn’t too bad. The bread and meat were a little dry and very salty. Given it’s the RNA show, why not use lots of butter?
After dinner and a couple packets of potato chips we settled in for the night’s entertainment.
Here’s a list of the entertainment, some of it was entertaining and some of it was a little boring.
Miss Show Girl
We could not see them even though we were close to the front.
The clock tower
Wood chop
I love the wood chop. This was a two team relay race. One of the blokes was 73 years old. One team opened a sizable lead after one competitor had a tough piece of wood but in the end it turned out to be a very even contest.
Goldie the Clown
Um what can I say, he’s a clown and he had a funny car. No one laughed.
Sheep dog trials
Somehow this is more entertaining when you watch it on television. We all went to the toilet during this phase.
Wheel stand jeep
This was cool but he only did one pass. More wheel stand jeep would have been good.
Harness racing
I’ve never been into horse racing of any kind. Three sisters were driving and they came in first, second and third out of an eight horse field.
National anthem with mounted police, police motorcycles and patrol motor vehicles, Australian Light horse, RNA Four horsemen
This was good. With the centenary of the beginning of World War One, there was a dedication to the role of horses in Australian history. The Queensland mounted police have been going for 150 years. We saw a few light horse representing the AIF and then four RNA horseman came in bearing the Australian, Queensland, Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal flags.
Troy Cassar-Daley
He sang some songs. I have no idea what they were about. I didn’t find it that appealing.
Keith Urban
This bloke was born in New Zealand but grew up in Caboolture near Brisbane and spoke on screen about his memories of visiting The Ekka. Apparently he’s a singer, something about country and western.
These were fantastic. The jet trike was cool but only did one lap. The MX blokes were cool and the monster trucks awesome. The Ford vs Holden drifting utes raced and the FORD won!
Prinnie Stevens
This woman just screeched. I have no idea what she was screaming.
Ekkanites fireworks
Best. Fireworks. Ever.
I loved them. So so good. I’d happily go back just for the fireworks.
Sorry I need to do a lot of work on my fireworks photography.
After the fireworks it was time for the final piece of my Ekka food needs, a Dagwood dog. If you read the Funnel cakes article you’ll see a piece of the story on the history of the Dagwood dog.
As we left for the bus stop I bought a foot long Dagwood dog, that’s 12 inches of goodness people. It took two hands to handle it.
Me and a foot long (12 inches) Dagwood dog at The Ekka
So ended a fantastic day with my daughters. We’ll be back.
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