No 6 Kiama Show - perfect for little kids

This one falls squarely into the category of things I've been meaning to do for years category. It definately counts as no 6 as I had to push to make it happen.

Whilst I have many fond memories of the Sydney Easter Show, the thought of schlepping 3 small children out to Homebush, the crowds, the meltdowns, the cost, not so appealing so far. I thought the perfect substitute would be one of the south coast shows on each Jan-Feb. so I googled it upon arriving at Mum and Johns and found the show was on that very day, but not the next day. I faced strong resistance to the idea, was told I could go myself but eventually loaded them all into the car.

The Pros:
1. We parked 50m from the entrance
2. Fairly easy to get a seat in the Grandstand to see the shows. We saw horse jumping, mini trots, camel racing, motorcross free styling (Toby's favourite - motorbikes jumping ridiculous distances into air and down ramp, including with backflips. Actually my favourite part too. Speaking of motorbikes, last week, Jake asked me if he could buy a motorbike when he is 33. I said ok. He ran screaming the good news outside to Toby. Whilst I hope he never buys one, I'm glad he is being sensible and waiting till he's a bit older....). The kids were pretty amazing at watching the events actually which is lucky as it was really the main attraction.
3. Craft section full of achievable cakes, scones and pikelets. Possibly because they were in the 16 and under section. Toby was sad the yummy stuff was fenced in....
4. Extensive side show alley, small show bag section ( luckily the kids don't yet realise what a show bag is). Most of them $5 a ride and not busy. Tough way to make a living.
5. Petting zoo: good for our age group but no other animals hanging around for viewing. Though they weren't that interested in it today.
6. Lions club sausage sizzle. Bargain.
7. $35 entrance fee instead of $115 for Sydney show. I did wonder why we had to pay at all to start with but we ended up spending 2 hours watching events in main arena so guess it was money for the entertainment.
8. Spectacular fireworks finale, that we watched from the comfort of the living room at John and Mums.
9. Not far for run aways to go, so easier to find them when they get a bit over excited and rush off.
10. Amazing dahlias- see behind Bianca.

The cons:
1.Not much to see other than main arena.
2. Not many farmer type people wandering around probably due to no animals on display. Although if we had stayed another hour, we could have watched the hay stacking contest. And the Beaut Ute contest.

All in all it was perfect for a young family as so small and easy to get around. Though getting there at 3.45pm just before the events on the oval started at 4 was perfect timing. Not much to see otherwise.