Perth Royal Show 2016

Yesterday I went to my favourite thing, the Perth Royal Show. Tracy and I went in the early afternoon, then I met up with Andrew, then we caught up with some friends from work for the fireworks. You see I need to tag people in and out because no one has as much royal show stamina as me (except for Amy, but she couldn't make it these year because of an impending baby!).

Tracy and I got there at 12pm aiming to see the 12:30 Dr Hubble's Bubbles show at the new Taste of WA pavilion. This pavilion was really well set up with gourmet food, and Nail beers on tap, I was sure we'd spend some time in there towards the night. We got front row couch seats and managed to catch a very confusing opening show by a guy who was making musical instruments out of kitchen stuff. At one point he drilled some holes in a carrot and was playing it like a flute, it was really quite amazing! But also strange. I was worried Tracy might be scared off, but she made it through OK.



The bubble show was pretty cool, Dr Hubble really loved what he was doing and you could just see his excitement when the bubble trick went right. He was having some (bubble) trouble because the pavilion was open on one side and the wind was messing up some of his setup. He managed to show us a square bubble (a small bubble in between two big bubbles on the top and bottom, and 4 smaller bubbles on the side pressed the center bubble into a cube), a bubble carousel (a stack of bubbles where the center stack was spinning around), a bubble caterpillar, an exploding bubble (filled with a smoky gas, and lighter fluid I think, then set on fire in the air), and a whole bunch of other bubbles too. We really enjoyed it!





Then we wandered up to the Creatures Great and Small pavilion to pat some animals while waiting for the Racing and Diving Pigs show.

I held a gorgeous angora rabbit, we held some a baby chickens, patted some baby pigs, and watched a gigantic pig feeding her babies (cute and gross at the same time, they're not gentle!).









The Racing and Diving Pig show was cute as always. It started off with a cute (but very long) song number by a little boy in a suit, and much to my delight the host was the same as last year; a spry older gentleman wearing an amazing rhinestone covered suite. The show itself is always the same, but it's quite quick so it's always worth seeing (and Tracy hadn't seen it before).



We went and saw the flower and cake displays which were both beautiful as always. I even saw a lotus flower for the first time and I thought it was beautiful! Those with trypophobia may want to skip the pictures below.







On our way to see Adam and Selina we noticed that there was a Komatsu HD785 haul truck near the main arena. There was also a wheel loader there, but it was a small one (Komatsu WA360). The size of these machines is just amazing. We were really lucky we got to see one, this is the first time I'd seen a dump truck up close, and this is on the smaller side of the trucks we simulate. Maybe we can claim the Royal Show as a business expense next year!







Adam and Selina are a brother and sister team that do a beautiful illusion show. Adam stabbed a bunch of sticks into a cardboard box that Selina was in, and unless she's a contortionist in jeans and a suit jacket I have no idea where she must have been. We guessed she was laying in the bottom but she'd occasionally pop her hand up out of the top, so she couldn't have been! They showed us a "walking through a mirror" illusion which was beautifully done, and as well as some card tricks they also did a shadow show in a big wheel type prop where Selina looked like she was walking through a a metal plank. Really cool, we have no idea how they did the tricks, but they were selling their "trick card deck" at the end of the show so I guess that's one mystery solved.



After the IGA pavilion, and a couple of mandatory purchases of sausage and Indian spices Tracy headed off and I met up with Andrew for the Dogolympics and Dock Dogs.

The Dogolympics were cute, but a little bit haphazard with dogs of all sizes running across some hurdles to their owners. The best bit was getting to see a purebred white dingo that loves to be held upside down!



Dock Dogs was a new thing this year, and it's an aquatic competition where dogs have to jump into a pool and are measured on speed or distance while performing a task. It was pretty much just watching a bunch of dogs trying to decide whether or not they were too cold to jump into the pool or not, very cute! One entry had a hilarious technique of getting her dog to jump into the pool by showing a toy getting thrown in, then holding her dog and slowly walking back and getting the dog so winded up that when she let go he bolted and jumped the furthest of the lot. So cute! We watched dogs jumping into a pool for ages.



After some more bunny patting (look at the size of this guy), a whiskey tasting at Limeburners, and some beer and snacks at Taste of WA, we headed down to the fireworks. My fireworks glasses are still standing all these years later and they still blow my mind every time.







The Python Loop isn't there anymore! So we didn't go on any rides. Andrew tried his luck at a throwing game, some of the other guys from work tried some basketball games, and I had a go at hanging on a bar for 2 minutes, none of us won. I'm so disappointed about that bar! The catch was that the bar spins so you could only use your fingers to hold on. I should have done monkey grip.

9h at the show is still not enough, man I love the show!

Pure Glow - Spring Juices

This is now the 3rd time I've done a Pure Glow cleanse (don't judge me, see my previous disclaimer), and this time their range of juices have changed. I was actually sad to see the old juices go because they were so great, but I've really loved these new juices too. I think the girls at Pure Glow are planning to change the juices seasonally, and I think it's a great way to keep things fresh and interesting.

Juice #1: 97 Blue Lagoon (alkaline water, cucumber, lemon, blue spirulina), 156 kJ

Compares the closest to original Juice #1, Sunrise Elixir (lemon, cucumber, aloe vera, filtered water, 133kJ). I prefer this juice to Sunrise Elixir. It’s less lemony which hurts less on the tongue, and makes the lemon and ginger teas I’ve been having a nicer (warm) change to the juices. I can’t taste the blue spirulina (although I’m not sure what it tastes like) but the colour is just gorgeous.

Juice #2: 63 California Ghost (orange, grapefruit, cucumber, coconut water),  843 kJ

Wow this juice is absolutely delicious. It was very fruity and sweet but not too tart, although I couldn’t taste the coconut in it at all, but maybe that added to the thickness of the juice. It probably compares the closest with original Juice #4, Good Karma (802.7) in that it’s sweet and citrusy.

Juice #3: 08 The Modern Muse (kale, cos, green apple, cucumber, lemon, celery),  692 kJ

Another delicious, sweet juice, and thin probably the most similar to original Juice #3, Green Guru (kale, cos, cucumber, celery, green apple, mint, lemon, 456 kJ).

Juice #4: 23 Antioxi-descent (fennel, cucumber, orange, cos, lemon, aloe), 772 kJ

Similar to The Modern Muse, but with a savoury twist. I actually appreciated the break between the sweet juices. Again probably the most similar to original Juice #3, Green Guru (kale, cos, cucumber, celery, green apple, mint, lemon, 456 kJ).

Juice #5: 25 Sangria Sunset (watermelon, carrot, beetroot, lemon, ginger), 992 kJ

This was very sweet and beetrooty, which I quite liked but it made my mouth and teeth all red! The redness went away after a short time though. My dad makes beetroot juice occasionally and I thought this was much nicer and easier to drink than beetroot on it's own. There isn’t really an equivalent to the original juices, probably Juice #4 Good Karma would be the closest thing. I was also surprised to notice that this was the juice with the highest energy content. I thought that the last juice would have been the highest for sure.

Juice #6: 74 Mylk of Foresight (alkaline water, cashew, coconut, calendula, medjool date, vanilla, cinnamon, pure WA lake salt), 854 kJ

I absolutely love this juice, it tastes like an amazing dessert. It’s very similar in taste to original Juice #6, Chai Vanilla Dream (almond, cashew, brazil nut, chai rooibos tea, medjool date, vanilla, filtered water, 878.7kJ), but I think I prefer the new juice. 

Some comparisons to the original juices: 

• Total energy intake was 215 calories higher, but I didn't notice any difference in my energy levels
  • Spring Juices: 4300 kJ, 1028 calories
  • Original juices: 3400 kJ, 813 calories
• There was no thick chewy juice like Juice #2, Glowing Greens which I missed. 
• The servings per package were all marked as 2 which I thought was strange since the intention is to drink the whole juice in 1 sitting.
• The stickers on the bottles come off a lot easier, which is good because I reuse the bottles for storing things like pepitas, sultanas, etc.

I found 3 days of just juices a bit harder this time, probably because it's winter and I also had a lot of exercise and long days at work on my schedule. Still it's something that I really enjoy doing, and I've already bought another voucher when Pure Glow were having a bit of a sale to use towards the end of the year when the juices get updated. 

Thanks Pure Glow!