Shepparton Show: Trip Report 13/10/06

[Gazza]

I hauled myself away from the books for a couple of hours tonight and checked out the Shepparton Show. It seems to have finally matured and I was pleasantly suprised by the line up, there seemed to be very little duplication of rides, and most of those un-thrill rides (like that thing that has a similar ride motion to the ali baba, but is sort of mounted on a wall). But anyway, here are some shots of the goings on. The main entrance, since the redevelopment you can now walk under this arch freely. it used to be a gate. Oh yea, and it cost $5 to get in to the actual show. The main path through, its not so much sideshow alley, but rather gastro alley. It was here I was reminded how much the soundtracks that advertise the skill games sound like Rodney Rude The refurbished grandstand. There is a small hall under it, and it is in there where you get your magnetic bracelets and spray on tatoos Inflatable farm animals were all the rage. No, not quite Superman: Escape..... ill bet WVTP would be happy about this one. Oh yes, this is a coaster site eh, im supposed to talk about rides. Anyway, here is that Extreme Speed Machine. I ended up riding this later on and it was awesome. You could see all of town lit up; the views were great and it was such a great feeling going so fast. The wind just rushes past and you cannot hear the motors at all. $15 was a bit steep, but i really wanted to try it. It seemed pretty popular too. Probably the most popular ride, Space roller was quite a lot of fun, it twirls you around a bit and you seem to spend all your time sideways. Very fun when it gets going fast. Unfortunatley i was seated toward the middle so i didnt get as fast a ride as i could have. Same ride, but after it had caught on fire A first for country Victoria, but crazy coaster was here, it was surprisingly good value at $7.50 a go with $5 for subsequent rides. The first ride was fun, but with only 3 passengers the spins werent all that wild. Another look at it. Considering how elaborate this is, the number of staff and the general nice presentation I felt it was better value than the $8 space roller. Even the sign looked professional. My second ride on this was better. It was night and the show was busier, which added to the atmosphere. I was also seated in a full car. The girls in there asked what the spin was like, and going by the previous ride i said "its no worse than an office chair". I was a bit shocked when we hit the spin toggle and went around that bend and the car span very quickly. The response from the girl that asked me: "OFFICE CHAIR MY ASS" A look down the main sideshow alley at sunset with some of the other rides in view. I went on cliffhanger, basically what you get when you cross a flying coaster with an entiprise. You got a bit of air at the highest point in the revolution, and a bit of g's at the bottom. It had that "wind in your hair" factor too, an OKish ride. $6. Looking down the alley after sunset. The place was getting busy so at least it has been sucessful. It is now the time i will make my carnie comment. They weren't too bad, they just seemed like your average tradie. However the guy running Kamakaze had an impressive mullet, one of the games blokes was missing a few teeth and quite a few seemed ill shaven. I also was asked directly by the bloke running the ball in the bucket game to "come over here mate", but i sort of skirted off. I dont really like being approached like that. But the female carnies seemed OK (no, not in THAT sense), they didnt even seem bogan at all. So this is what fireworks mode does. Well, that rounds off my trip report, its nice to see rural shows are improving, and I think they still have a bit of life in them yet.

[dreamworld_rulz]

I went on the crazy coaster at the Melb show and with the 4 of us it spun like there's no 2morrow. Glad you had a great time. Thanks for posting that.

[ozshowkid]

Make sure when you right a comment about the SHOWIES that you actually meet them, not the staff because as in most trades you get some bad eggs. The familys that own, run and opperate the rides are all just like your average people, Clean, they have all there teeth. I am a showie every showie i know is clean, so before you make comments meet the right people first cause i know a lot of the opperators read this forum and AAF. Cheers OZShowkid

Edited October 14, 2006 by ozshowkid

[Gazza]

Hey, I was defending them, i said they were mostly OK and there were only a couple that seemed iffy, but this is what I said....

They weren't too bad, they just seemed like your average tradie.

But the female carnies seemed OK (no, not in THAT sense), they didnt even seem bogan at all.

I was just going against what was said in the past (That they are all feral), but at the same time there are a few "characters". Im sure they are all nice people. Oh, and did you mean "write" and not "right"? Edited October 14, 2006 by Gazza