Saturday, 21 March 2009
Coonabarabran Show
Australia is blessed with many things: beautiful landscapes, great characters and country shows. A good friend of ours has gone a bit Gypsy and has hit the road for a year or so to see some sites and sell some leather. Here is a recent update from our mate Steve. There will be more posted here and in time we will be setting Steve up with his own blog.
Coonabarabran Show: words and photos by Steve Craigie
If you've all done as I have then you've always driven through Coonabarabran
without stopping because it's one of those in-between towns.
Last week I made up for it and spent seven days camped at the show grounds
and had the time to look about and meet the locals.
It's much like any other country town, full of friendly helpful people that
accept you as one of their own.
I was there for the show, as you would realize, and as always the same old
team put in the effort to make it a success. One of the characters about the
show grounds is worth a mention so I've included some pics of Jack and his
trick dog Molly.
Jack has spent many years in a circus but decided to go on the road with
Molly and start his own little show.
He's a reserved sort of a chap that doesn't really sell himself but once the
act starts and the microphone's on then look out, he's very good, and Molly
of course wins the crowd over in a big way, especially the kids.
Showman like Jack are two very different people rolled into one.
I first met Jack at the Glen Innes show; he was there with a character named
Bobby, a short foreign bloke who has more charisma than ever you could ever
imagine, he is also from the circus, some forty years of it in fact and has
more gold in his front teeth than I found in six weeks prospecting at Ora
Banda. He wears a constant smile and greets every body with a warm handshake
or a hug depending on your sex and will do anything it takes to make sure
you're happy.
Bobby drives a small train turnout about pulling six carriages. All the kids
have a ball as he winds his way through the show grounds and the odd parent
is aboard to keep the little ones from leaping off.
Bobby was a little worried about Jacks future so over a couple of beers I
said I'd email all the contacts for NSW, QLD, NT and WA. That same evening
they ask if I would like to have dinner at their camp as the food might be
going off because the ice had melted and they had lots of chicken legs to
get through. This was one invitation I was definitely going to give a miss.
Rather than eat with them I took around half a bottle of "Red" for pre
dinner drinks.
In the circus they had worked with lions, tigers and all that scary stuff,
even hanging from ropes and bars in the big top and falling down to safety
nets.
Having given all the information about where to go and what shows to do I
suddenly remembered that I still hadn't seen Jack's act.
Thank goodness he was performing at Coonabarabran.
The pics don't show the real crowd he had as I was one of them but the
locals were most impressed.
It is difficult for him to approach show committees in some ways because he
hasn't anything to sell but entertainment. The committee must there fore
decide whether to pay him as an entertainer or just fuel costs and then he
has to pass his hat around as the act finishes to earn his dollar. The
latter is what happened on this occasion.
After the show and over a beer he said that the crowd was extremely generous
and he'd made nearly two thousand dollars over six performances.
Unlike our business he doesn't have to replace stock when a sale is made, he
only needs to buy some dog food.
As time goes by I will introduce you to other characters that make show life
so interesting.
Pics-
Mad blokes on bikes.
An evening view from my back door.
Molly actually closes the suit case lid on herself at one stage.
Jack climbs the ladder in mid air and then juggles a large knife and two of
those other things.
My camera wasn't quick enough to catch Molly jumping through the hoops.
She also walks about on her hind legs then jumps along like a kangaroo.
Till next time.
Steve and Sass
Coonabarabran Show: words and photos by Steve Craigie
If you've all done as I have then you've always driven through Coonabarabran
without stopping because it's one of those in-between towns.
Last week I made up for it and spent seven days camped at the show grounds
and had the time to look about and meet the locals.
It's much like any other country town, full of friendly helpful people that
accept you as one of their own.
I was there for the show, as you would realize, and as always the same old
team put in the effort to make it a success. One of the characters about the
show grounds is worth a mention so I've included some pics of Jack and his
trick dog Molly.
Jack has spent many years in a circus but decided to go on the road with
Molly and start his own little show.
He's a reserved sort of a chap that doesn't really sell himself but once the
act starts and the microphone's on then look out, he's very good, and Molly
of course wins the crowd over in a big way, especially the kids.
Showman like Jack are two very different people rolled into one.
I first met Jack at the Glen Innes show; he was there with a character named
Bobby, a short foreign bloke who has more charisma than ever you could ever
imagine, he is also from the circus, some forty years of it in fact and has
more gold in his front teeth than I found in six weeks prospecting at Ora
Banda. He wears a constant smile and greets every body with a warm handshake
or a hug depending on your sex and will do anything it takes to make sure
you're happy.
Bobby drives a small train turnout about pulling six carriages. All the kids
have a ball as he winds his way through the show grounds and the odd parent
is aboard to keep the little ones from leaping off.
Bobby was a little worried about Jacks future so over a couple of beers I
said I'd email all the contacts for NSW, QLD, NT and WA. That same evening
they ask if I would like to have dinner at their camp as the food might be
going off because the ice had melted and they had lots of chicken legs to
get through. This was one invitation I was definitely going to give a miss.
Rather than eat with them I took around half a bottle of "Red" for pre
dinner drinks.
In the circus they had worked with lions, tigers and all that scary stuff,
even hanging from ropes and bars in the big top and falling down to safety
nets.
Having given all the information about where to go and what shows to do I
suddenly remembered that I still hadn't seen Jack's act.
Thank goodness he was performing at Coonabarabran.
The pics don't show the real crowd he had as I was one of them but the
locals were most impressed.
It is difficult for him to approach show committees in some ways because he
hasn't anything to sell but entertainment. The committee must there fore
decide whether to pay him as an entertainer or just fuel costs and then he
has to pass his hat around as the act finishes to earn his dollar. The
latter is what happened on this occasion.
After the show and over a beer he said that the crowd was extremely generous
and he'd made nearly two thousand dollars over six performances.
Unlike our business he doesn't have to replace stock when a sale is made, he
only needs to buy some dog food.
As time goes by I will introduce you to other characters that make show life
so interesting.
Pics-
Mad blokes on bikes.
An evening view from my back door.
Molly actually closes the suit case lid on herself at one stage.
Jack climbs the ladder in mid air and then juggles a large knife and two of
those other things.
My camera wasn't quick enough to catch Molly jumping through the hoops.
She also walks about on her hind legs then jumps along like a kangaroo.
Till next time.
Steve and Sass
Labels: Australia show circuit, Coonabarabran Show, pack saddle leather, rugged luxury, Steve Craigie
posted by bbm
