Slumber party with animals: overnight accommodation at the Show
Alpaca breeder Shane Read in the cattle and alpaca sheds
The Sydney Royal Easter Show is like a medieval village with animals and people living cheek by jowl on site. About 13,000 animals come through the Showgrounds during the 14 days of the Show. Most of those would spend several nights on site as they acclimatise and are prepared for competition. In the cattle sheds, for example, nearly 800 beef cattle move in during the first week of the Show. In the second week, they are replaced by a similar number of dairy cattle and alpacas. Around 800 people sleep on site with their animals every night of the Show.
Today we have a sneak peek at what accommodation is like for the animal exhibitors. Shane Read from Thuddungra has been bringing alpacas to the Show for 10 years. In the pavilions, the accomodation is in two storey boxes or lofts. They are just over 2 metres deep and two metres wide with an external ladder up to the loft level (you can see the ladder in the right hand side of the photo). There literally is not enough room to swing a cat (calm down cat exhibitors, we didn’t give it a go, it’s just a turn of phrase). Shane says the first night can get quite noisy because of all the excitement, but after that it’s a pretty decent night’s sleep. “I am usually so tired I just pass out. You know what noises are alarming and what are normal, so it really is not difficult to adjust. The noise isn’t from the animals, I’m used to that. It’s usually from the passers by and people returning from the cattlmen’s bar”
Des Dunn: Accommodation in Pig and Goat Pavilion
For lots of animal exhibitors, a visit to the Show doubles as a holiday. With the Show falling in school holidays, often it is a family affair, with parents and children, and old friends, catching up in the animal pavilions each year.
In any clear space between Show patrons, animals, bags of stock feed and equipment, you will find a few fold out chairs and a table where exhibitors are having a cup of tea and a yarn.
Des Dunn, from Upper Lansdowne, travels 340 kilometres to bring 26 pigs to the Show. He sets up camp in the pig and goat pavilion. In the pig pavilion the accommodation is in small single story units, with communal kitchens and bathrooms. While Des Dunn has a comfortable bed, swags are more common in the cattle and horse pavilions.
Accommodation in Show animal pavilions, right in the middle of Sydney, is reasonably priced at $30 per night per person. But don’t expect to get too much sleep. The bright lights in the pavilions stay on until 10.30 pm and come back on again at 5.30 am.
Want to see more about what goes on at the Show after dark ? Check out this video put together by the boys in the Wild Ride of Cobb and Co. Got a question about sleeping over with the animals at the Show ? Drop us a comment.
