On Wednesday, the sun was shining and I had the day off work, so we decided to take the kids to the Royal Melbourne Show.
My 5 year old has only been once and my 3 year old has never been, so both were excited and not sure what to expect.
As a child, my brother and I went to the show every year. One day we would go with our school and ours parents would also take us during the holidays. It was something we looked forward to for the whole year.
I have such wonderful memories of going to the show as a child and I hope that my kids will feel the same when they grow up.
We arrived just before 10am and headed straight towards the Animal Nursery.
The kids loved walking amongst the animals and patting them. For $2 each, they were able to feed the animals too.
Next stop was the rides. For $30 we got six tickets, so the kids went on a couple each and hubby and I tagged along on one of them.
One of the things I find truly bazaar at the show, is the “Pie in the Sky”. I’m not sure what purpose it serves but to me it is a Melbourne icon.
We then braved the crowds in the showbag pavilion. The kids had been told “one showbag each”, so Miss 5 quickly decided on the Hello Kitty showbag and Mast 3 grabbed the Justice League one (because it came with a Superman toy). I grabbed a Bertie Beetle for myself but the contents somehow mysteriously disappeared when I was at the supermarket later that night!
Next stop was the Fresh Food Pavilion. We all enjoyed having a look through here and the kids loved that they got to sample lots of yummy treats along the way.
PS – the caramel popcorn is to die for!
Before we left, we made a quick pit stop to visit Lightning McQueen and Mack. The kid’s eyes nearly popped out of their heads when they saw them. It was so cute.
All in all we had a wonderful day and made some memories that I’m sure will last a lifetime.
Here are my Top 5 Tips for show day. If you have any others, please share them below.
1. Take your own lunch, snacks & drinks. Food at the show is not cheap (and not always very nutritious). I packed fruit, snacks and sandwiches for the kids and everytime one of the piped up with “I’m hungry”, I just handed them something from my bag and we kept walking. There’s also lots of free samples in the Fresh Food Pavilion, so pop in there and taste some of the yummy goodies on offer.
2. Set your budget AND stick to it!
3. Make the most of the free activities & exhibitions. I know kids love going on rides at the show, but at $5/$6 per ride/per child, it can soon get expensive.
4. If taking the kids, I recommend getting there as soon as it starts (9.30am) as it gets busier as the day goes on. We got there just before 10am and it was really good. By the time we left at 3pm it was crazy busy.
5. Slip, slop, slap! Even if it’s an overcast day, make sure you don’t forget to do this. I saw quite a few sunburnt people walking around later in the day.
For more information visit www.royalshow.com.au
I also have such fond memories of the Show growing up. I took my then 2-year old son to the show last year and did it on a really strict budget. It was just him and I and we took the train in after finding some street parking in North Melbourne. We went on a couple of rides but really made the most of looking at all the animals and the free exhibits. Of course, we bought a few showbags (mainly for Mummy!) but all up managed to spend less than $70 including our tickets. I couldn’t agree more though… take your own food and set a budget.