Day - 17 Wongalinga (6)

Today was a very interesting day.  We were fortunate to be in the area for the annual show in Tully.  All the shops were closed all day for miles around and the locals seemed to be all at the show.  We travelled by car to the venue, and enjoyed reminders of the country shows of our childhood.  The familiar ferris wheel, laughing clowns, dodgem cars, fairy floss, ice creams, chips, farm produce competitions, and equine activities on the oval were all very familiar.

Sugar cane entries.  The winning entries are those which have the heaviest weight per stalk, because these have the highest concentration of sugar contained therein.

Many of the bananas in the agricultural competitions.

One of the stalls gave a demonstration of the safety precautions to take for snakes.  This was extremely educational, and he showed us many different species along with information about their colour, likely location in Australia, degree of venom, and how to avoid being bitten if met on a path or in the bush.  Recommended bush treatment if bitten, before going to hospital, was covered.  His advice was not to clean the site of the bite, nor kill the snake to take to the hospital.  Below is a photo of a relatively domesticated "lace monitor lizard" which is only half grown.

Handler showing us one of the extremely poisonous snakes.  Note his high boots and tough jeans.  He has been a handler for 10 years and never been bitten.

A stand at the show, with the "clowns".

An entertainment stall at the show which contained "zombies" 

Competing horses on the oval.

A "porky pig race". We waited to watch the race to the food bowl, which was quite fun.

This is the finish line where the food is located.

Annual competition at the show, to create outfits from the plastic bags which are used to surround bunches of bananas.  Some of the outfits were extremely creative, as you can see, and watching it was a lot of fun.

Another photograph of some of the creations.

Boats were on display, including this one which is the same as Reagan's.

This is known as the "bikini tree", on the road between Mission Beach and Tully.