Gayndah - The Rodeo!

By far my favourite experience of the weekend was the Sunday afternoon Rodeo. It was insanity and awesomeness rolled into one. I would rather arm wrestle a biker than step foot into that arena with one of those massive beasts on the loose.

The least insane feat (still requiring loads of skill) was the barrel racing:


These girls were really working it!

A short interlude to showcase the fresh-faced cowboys and gals, and one not-so-fresh-faced one with an awesome mo:

Watch this poor little calf being chased down and tied up like a Christmas ham:

Some bucking broncos:

Steer-wrestling!!!! Seriously.

Bull riding! Country people are seriously mad! They do this shit for fun!!

Ton has also posted about this event.

Gayndah - The Oranges

Well, these little guys are kumquats, but their skin is orange, so close enough.

Also, some very interesting typography and illustration on these old bits of packaging.

Gayndah - The Landscape

Gayndah - The Races: The point of it all

So the point of going to the races is to bet on the horses, but since I'm not much of a gambler I decided to try to take some photos instead. Low light and fast-moving beasts do not a great photograph make. Add to that the constant drizzle from above, and I soon retired to the club house *cough* shed *cough* for some hot chips and another alcoholic beverage to dull the senses from the encroaching cold. Hence I didn't come away with anything terribly interesting, but I thought I'd share these semi-ok photos anyway so you can get an idea of the conditions.

Gayndah - The Races: Fashions on the Field

After the parade we went back home to get changed for the races. The weather was too horrible to go outside, let alone go outside in a frock, but we did it anyway. Instead of a hat I wore a beanie (and I STILL got sick!!), but these lovely ladies braved the cold and not-so-glamorous surroundings with some cute and stylish headgear.

Gayndah - The Parade

For every Orange Festival the festival committee elects an Orange Queen, chosen from local entrants; not married, under 30, either born in Gayndah or living there full-time. One of our friends entered, but unfortunately didn't win. It's not like a beauty pageant with a swimwear section; it's more about fund-raising and community involvement, and the entrants also get questioned on their local knowledge (including what type of oranges or other citrus fruits are picked at what time of the year).
The Queen is chosen at a Ball the weekend before the Festival, and then she and the other entrants have official duties to attend to all weekend. On the Saturday at lunch time they have a parade down the main road with music, floats, performers etc - the local businesses put up floats, and the Orange Queen contestants are typically associated with a particular business and wave from that business's float. Without further ado, our friend's float, some of the women who work there dressed up as cows, citrus fruit and a bear (??), and some of the other parade participants:

Last Weekend - Gayndah

I've been sick all week, so am finally able to catch up on blogging last weekend.
We have a couple of friends who were born and raised in Gayndah, a little country town of about 3000 people, situated approximately 150km North-West of Gympie. Gayndah and its arch rival (seriously) Mundubbera are a citrus-growing region, and every two years Gaynday hosts the Orange Festival, where the population of the town swells to around 10'000!! All the expats who have moved onto bigger cities come back, and bring along their big city friends. For the majority of the weekend there were 10 people staying at our friend's parents' house, and most of the town is the same.
Sadly the weather was rather awful (freezing cold and rain), but the hospitality we enjoyed was wonderful.
I'm breaking my photos up into different events/posts to follow...