Taste Test on Mornings with Kerri-Anne

Mornings with Kerri-Anne came up to Brisbane this year for the annual Brisbane Exhibition (officially known as the Royal Queensland Show), that everyone calls the Ekka. Why is it called the Ekka? Nobody seems to know. There’s a story that there was once a boy who couldn’t pronounce “exhibition” and called it “ekka” instead and it just stuck. I’m not sure if there’s any merit to it though.

About the Ekka

The first Ekka was held in 1876 and was primarily an agricultural show. Today, the Ekka is still the greater Brisbane area’s biggest annual agricultural fair where farmers bring their best cattle, horses, chickens, sheep, and everything else you can find on a farm to compete in shows. There are also competititons for the best and largest fruit and veg, agricultural display competitions, and horticulture exhibitions. The whole thing takes place over a week and to describe everything that goes on there would take forever and a half.

Have you ever heard of a holiday based on a fair? I hadn’t. But, Brisbanites actually have a day off for Ekka!

Brisbane Ekka 2009 with the chair lift in the background

The Ekka is massive. The area it takes up spans across a few streets in Brisbane and it’s so big that there’s a train station dedicated to it, and a chair lift that takes you from one end to the other. This was the last year the chair lift would be operating so Sarah and I had planned to go on it, but it was something like $7 one-way or $9.50 return.

There are essentially two sides to the Ekka. The first has all of your agricultural stuff with the shows, the farm sheds where the farmers live with their animals (no joke – they sometimes sleep with them), petting zoo, animal displays, and exhibition halls for random things like Chinese imports, science fairs, etc. The other side is just like a themepark with all your rides and games. Sort of in the middle, you have your police station with a dedicated area for lost children (it’s very common) and the place where you get your showbags.

What’s a showbag you ask? It’s like a goody-bag that you purchase to say “Hey, yeah I went to the Ekka too! See? Here’s my showbag.” I had thought there were just a couple of showbags you could purchase from a stand at the Ekka. I had heard about the Bertie Beetle showbag through Twitter and assumed all the showbags were chocolate and candy filled. Boy, was I wrong.

Ekka Showbag Warehouse

Sarah and I walked to the building where they were selling showbags and I expected to see a single stand where people would buy their chocolate goody-bags. It was an entire WAREHOUSE!! I was flabberghasted. There were rows upon rows of stalls filled with hundreds of different showbags ranging from $1 to $50+. There were showbags for chocolate, showbags for perfume, showbags for men’s porno mags, showbags for everything imaginable! There were David Hasselhoff themed showbags!!! “Man alive” I thought, “parents could end up spending a fortune in this place!” And I’m sure some parents did because I saw kids leaving with more showbags than they could carry!

Everyone knows that the showbags can be a bit of a rip-off. Most of them are full of novelty things like fake nude butts or wigs and kids jewelry. But, after walking around in there for fifteen minutes, I started seriously considering buying a magazine showbag for $20. I found myself looking at these different sets of showbags and comparing which one had a nicer purse and which coupons and samples I would use even though I didn’t need a purse and I don’t normally use any of those products. If Sarah hadn’t reminded me then about how much of a rip-off these bags are, I probably would’ve ended up spending a bill on random junk I didn’t need. In the end, I walked away with my $1.50 Bertie Beetle showbag (three little chocolates, two lollipops, and a few temporary tattoos) quite happy to have taken part in the showbag tradition without having spent an arm and a leg.

Mornings with Kerri-Anne at the Ekka

When I first found out that I would be on Mornings with Kerri-Anne at the Ekka, I asked the producers if I could milk a cow or shear a sheep. Unfortunately, there’s no public cow milking or sheap sheering at the Ekka because pretty much all of the animals there are the best in the state and there for show. The farmers aren’t about to let you milk their best cow or take a chance letting you shear their best sheep.

I was originally scheduled for a segment with puppies at 10:30am. “What am I going to do with puppies!?” I thought. The night before though, I got a message saying the time would be changed to 9:30am so the segment would be changed too. Then the morning of, while I was getting ready for a 9:30am segment, I got a message saying the segment was pushed another hour early. I woke Sarah up early and scrambled to get ready.

Cabcharges

You know what’s great about being on an Australian television show? Cabcharges! All shows should have this. I remember the sting of having to pay for $9 or $12 parking everytime I went to film or record a segment in Vancouver. When I was talking to Kelley (producer for the show) on the phone, she asked how I would be getting to the Ekka. I told her I would be taking transit and she said “ah, we can do better than that!” She sent me a couple of cabcharge cards to get to and from the Ekka and it was grand. This was the first time I’d taken a taxi in Australia and it was really nice not to have to think about whether Translink’s GoCard machines would be working (they still haven’t refunded the $11 they overcharged me over a week ago). Thanks Kelley!

As we were waiting for the taxi, Sarah and I were talking about the show and this was when she realized that we were going to meet Kerri-Anne Kennerley in person. LOL I still snicker a bit thinking about her reaction. I didn’t know she was a fan, and she had thought we were doing a double-ender where I’d be in Brisbane and Kerri-Anne would be in Sydney. She told her mom. Hee hee

Channel Nine Studios Coffee Bar and Worker Bees

We got there with time to spare and I was in desperate need of a coffee. Thankfully, the Channel Nine studio at the Ekka had it’s own coffee bar and barista! As we walked to the restaurant where the segment would be filmed, I sipped on my nice hot latte. Yum.

The new segment I’d be on was going to be a taste test where the General Manager for Jamaica Blue would be making a steak sandwich. A taste testing segment isn’t exactly ideal for an interview. Kerri-Anne told me to try the sandwich right after introducing me so when she asked me a question, my mouth was still full! Yeah, I’m sure that looked great…

After the segment was over, Sarah and I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon seeing everything at the Ekka. We even caught part of a miniature-horse show. I think the highlight of the day was the petting zoo where we got to feed all sorts of farm animals and play with little chicks and lambs.

Tips for Travellers at the Ekka

1. I was originally going to suggest that you go on the last day of Ekka because they said on the news that the showbags and rides would be discounted on the last day. But, a friend who did go on the last day this year said that no such thing happened. So, my new tip is to go on whatever day you want and don’t feel bad if they say you should’ve gone on the last day for a discount.
2. Wear closed-toe shoes that you can walk around in comfortably for hours. You’re going to do a LOT of walking and you won’t want to be wearing open-toe shoes at the petting zoo.
3. Don’t spend more than five minutes in any particular section of the showbag warehouse. If you didn’t really want it in the first five minutes, you’ll probably feel like you’ve wasted money after buying it.
4. Plan to spend the entire day at the Ekka because it takes several hours to get through everything, and they also have evening concerts (different each day).
5. Queenslander traditions for the Ekka: eat a dagwood dog (also known as a “pluto pup” or corn dog), buy a showbag (the cheapest one is $1), eat a strawberry ice cream.
6. A day at the Ekka will cost you at least $34: $23 entry (or $17 if you have a student card) + $5 for a dagwood dog + $5 for a strawberry ice-cream + $1 for the cheapest showbag. Rides cost a minimum $7 each and most small snack items are around $5. A cup of animal feed at the petting zoo is $2 and it doesn’t last very long.
7. If you’re hungry at the Ekka and you don’t have enough money to buy snacks, visit the marketplace where they sell groceries. Most booths will have samples that will tie you over for another hour or so.
8. Bring a bottle of water with you. You’ll get thirsty walking around in the sun all day. Like most fairs, the food and drinks are more expensive than if you were to buy them at the grocery store. I’m all for buying a dagwood dog at the fair even if it costs $5 because it’s part of the experience, but a bottle of water is the same wherever you get it so bring one with you and save yourself $3+.

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Me and Belinda Riding the Waves at Dreamworld

Belinda and I have been chatting on Twitter and on this blog ever since the Best Job in the World campaign began in January. I’ve been wanting to meet her since then and was hoping we’d meet when I made the trip down South but she has a very sweet and protective fiance who wasn’t too keen on the idea. But really, I’m a 5ft 4″ Asian girl that weighs less than 120 lbs. How much of a threat could I really be? Eventually he gave in and Belinda and I spent a day at Dreamworld where she used to work.

Unfortunately, due to the time of year (school holidays) we weren’t able to go on very many rides and the line-ups were pretty insane. But, the ones we did go on were really good! The Tower of Terror is Belinda’s favourite and it’s up there on my list as well along with Wipeout and The Claw.

The line-up for The Tower of Terror was especially brutal because it only seats 12 people at a time and there were a lot of glitches and delays that day. We waited for over an hour in front of a group of very drunken girls who were lacking basic motor skills (they kept elbowing and falling on us). When we finally got to the ride, there was a glitch and we were stuck in the seats for a while, and then it started raining so the ride was closed down for another 45 minutes. We did end up going back and getting a ride in. It may only be 20 seconds, but it’s quite the thrill.

Tips for Travellers

1. Dreamworld can be very expensive compared to your Playland or other themepark back home. It’s $69 AU for a daypass so unless you really really REALLY want to go, you could probably get a better bang for your buck elsewhere.
2. If you are travelling to Dreamworld by train, look on the back of your ticket. It may have a coupon for an adult pass at children’s price.
3. Buy your pass before you go. You can get your ticket at the Coomera (pronounced “koom-ra”) train station while you’re waiting for the shuttle to the park. If you get your ticket at the entrance, you could be waiting in line for well over a half hour.
4. Check the weather before leaving because if it’s a rainy day, you won’t be able to go on some of the rides like the Tower of Terror (which is definitely worth a go).
5. However, if it’s only slightly cloudy, it might be an ideal day to go because the weather scares most people off and according to staff members, the morning clouds usually go away by the afternoon.
6. Do NOT go to Dreamworld when students are on holiday. Seriously. This could be the worst decision ever and you could be waiting all day just to ride two rides. I’m not joking.
7. Start with the Giant Drop. For those of you who know Playland, it’s like the Hellevator but nearly twice as high. Then you can see the whole park and scout where you want to go next while getting a bit of a thrill. It’s scarier than the Hellevator.
8. Must dos: The Giant Drop, The Claw, Wipeout (which takes 40 people at a time so wait times are short), Tower of Terror,  Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster, Wildlife Exhibit, Log Ride (if you don’t mind getting incredibly soaked).
9. If you want to get an extra splash on the Log Ride or Thunder River Rapids Ride, go after 10:30am because that’s when the water gets pumped for the day. If you go before then, you won’t get as wet.
10. Bring a packed lunch. Everyone else does. Like all themeparks, the food is both overpriced and not so good.
11. If you are over 5ft 10″, you may have trouble getting on a lot of the rides (ex. Mick Doohan’s Motocoaster and The Claw). Lineups can be very long and it sucks if you get all the way to the ride only to find out you can’t go on it. There are tester seats for most of the rides just outside the line-up areas. If you’re unsure about whether you can ride, try the tester seats first.

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Highlights of Dreamworld

1. Getting to know Belinda in person!
2. The MASSIVE crocodiles! I wish we had been able to catch the crocodile show because they feed them then, but we were still in line at The Tower of Terror.
3. Seeing kangaroos having what looked like a three-way.
4. Seeing the “fugly kangaroo”. I feel so bad for the guy. He’s really unattractive…
5. That first thrill of being on a new ride and not knowing what to expect.