Ekka

Think Minnesota State Fair meets Bayfield County Fair and you have the beginning of understanding of the Ekka - the Royal Queensland Exhibition of Industry and Agriculture. The event had all the traditional displays to which we are accustomed - with an Aussie twist. There were carnival rides, fried foods, animal barns, crafts and the grand-stand. We watched blacksmiths make and mount real horseshoes and lumberjacks hack through mega logs in record speed. We indulged in fair food: dagwood dogs (foot-long corn-dogs on a stick that barely stayed upright) and fairy floss (cotton candy - ok, we didn't actually get any fairy floss but I couldn't resist putting the name in the blog!)

Then there were the Show Bags (I only capitalize the name as they are such a big deal to the Aussie Fair experience). Show Bags are unbelievably popular plastic bags of over-priced, Chinese-made junk toys and trinkets. The selection ranges from AC-DC to the Wiggles and everything in between. Housed in a gigantic, white, circus tent, several hundred booths line up to sell their bags of crap (pardon the expression) consisting of dime-store paraphernalia you wouldn't give away at a kids birthday party. Yet thousands of Aussies paid $5 - $50 per bag to score their favorite iconic novelties and parade around the fair grounds carrying their Justin Bieber or Elmo treasure bag. Just didn't get it....

Our favorite was the animal barns. There we saw (truly!) newborn lambs that were birthed on display behind glass at the fair; their bloody umbilical cords still hung from their scrawny bellies. Show dogs were meticulously groomed; some looking absolutely stunning with shiny coats and manicured appendages and others appearing ridiculous as in the inconsistently shaved standard poodles with pom-poms on their butts and buffont hair-dos. (Think of the movie "Best of Show" and you get the picture.) In the horse barn, they had spectacular displays of the various types of horses in Australia explaining their origins, uses and characteristics. For each, they had a live horse in a stall for viewing. It was very informative. We also learned that there is one non-allergenic cat as its fur does not contain the protein to which people are allergic. So, there you go.

All in all, it was an enjoyable day and something for everyone. Bear got to chase down Dad on the bumper cars and shoot some arrows into a target. Eric missed out on the classic cars but got his fill of turkey legs and ice cream. Ann was happy watching the horse jumping and walking through the animal barns. It wasn't the Minnesota State Fair but it was a nice way to spend the day.