A Day Out At The Ekka – Part 2

Okay, let’s get this Ekka thing done shall we?

Yesterday I promised you three unusual facts about the Ekka. So here they are.

Fact #1

The Ekka is actually the Royal Queensland Show, but it became known as the exhibition. Anyone who has read more than just a few of my blog posts, in particular my post about Australian slang, will know that long words, such as exhibition have no real place in the Queenslander’s day-to-day life.

So “the exhibition” was shortened to “The Ekka”. It does make sense………

In English, “hello my friend, are you going to the exhibition?”
In Aussie, “mate, going to the Ekka?”

That’s a saving of almost 50%.

Fact #2

The “Ekka” isn’t just an event in Queensland, it seems. Where Queensland has the Royal Queensland Show, New South Wales have the Sydney Royal Easter Show. By all accounts these are the same exhibitions. Although if you were to suggest that to Queensland/NSW residents you would probably leave them arguing over which was best for hours. But it cannot be argued that the similarity between the two events is striking.

There is also the Melbourne, Perth, Darwin and Hobart Royal Shows. They all appear to have an agricultural element and probably showbags.

Fact #3

The Ekka would not be the Ekka without these two favourites.

First: The Dagwood Dog. This is a fatter than a normal hot dog and is on a stick, battered and dipped in tomato sauce.

Second: Fresh Strawberry Sundae. It’s a small flat cone with vanilla ice cream on the bottom, then a layer of chopped strawberries, then strawberry ice cream topped with real cream and a fresh strawberry on the top. It is rumoured that both the ice creams are made especially for the show.

Yummy, at just over 700 calories the pair.

Now the ride you cannot do without me.

This is not the most exciting video (OK, it’s the worst!) I have ever made, you needed to be there really. But it does give you a good idea of how big the Ekka is, and how busy. The chairlift ride takes about nine minutes to complete but I have edited, no butchered, the video down to just under four minutes. But it does last a little longer because at the end I have added a clip from a competitive event.

If you want to see what a real Australian man can achieve in just one minute, you will want to stick it out until the end.

Why is this the ride you can’t do without me? Because the 22 ha site is about to be redeveloped, and the chair lift will apparently be taken down. 5 ha of the development will be handed over to residential buildings, but the site will also include parks, walkways and bikeways.

The development will not spell the end of the Ekka, it is more a means of allowing it to continue.

Great! I can go shopping for showbags again next year.