40th Echuca Steam, Horse, and Vintage Rally

I'm back from another Echuca rally - this one was not as good as some years for attendance of exhibits which is a pity considering they had the best weather I've ever witnessed for the event and a public turn out of around 500 people.

Steam offerings were magnificient as they always are for this show, but the engine area was quite small and disappointing with only some of the mainstay clubs in attendance - even their numbers appeared to be low within their compounds. At least I got to order a manual for my new tractor and get some contacts for parts.

The people in the secretaries booth were not terribly well informed, and one of them had the ultimate answer to everything "no". Their reactions to some of my questions actually spoilt the begining of the day for me - it took a while to forget about it and get into the feel of the show. Such is life, you cannot always get good help when its free. I think they need to work out how they might better serve their visitors, food, and toilets being at the top of the list. I counted only five food vendors on the grounds. That is not enough for a 10,000 person crowd. I found only three toilets.

I met up with Mick Christie from the SEL and we had a good yack. I also ran into some of the people I work with at Puffing Billy - it was good to bump into them unintentionally.