I am not funny, China is funny.: Chinchilla Watermelon Festival

Just a few years back (wink, wink) my best friend, Krista, was named Watermelon Queen at a festival in South Carolina. You would think, then, that I had been to many watermelon festivals in my day. Believe it or not, though, I had to travel to the other side of the world to attend my first festival. The family and I loaded up the car this weekend with two other families to Chinchilla, Australia…the home of my first watermelon festival.

I know you are all going to be shocked to the core when I confess that camping does not excite me. It is fair to say that I really don’t have an adventurous bone in my body. So, when Amy told me that our accommodation for the weekend was a camper, I cringed a little bit. Chinchilla is in the country, bordering the outback. In my mind, Chinchilla was also the home of hundreds of snakes just waiting for my midnight walk to the bathroom. Amy mentioned that the temperatures would be just dreadful, so take comfortable clothing. She also told me that, because of the recent floods, we would need tons of “mozzie” (mosquito) spray and mosquito nets to put over our head. As if camping didn’t frighten me enough, I was going to look quite hideous in my mosquito net as I dodged all of those snakes! Amy wasn’t exactly convincing me that this trip to Chinchilla was going to be heaps of fun. Thankfully, our time in Chinchilla was nothing like what I had imagined. Amy’s in-laws lived on a beautiful farm that covered over 500 acres. The land was just beautiful. Her mother-in-law was quite the gardener, too! To add to the beauty, the temperature was just perfect, with a pleasant breeze. It was even quite chilly at night. I still dreaded those midnight bathroom runs, though! My children loved it so much that they want to know when we can do it again. As much fun as we had, I am not sure that buying a camper is in my future!

The watermelon festival itself was a hoot! Although I never made it to one back home, I imagine the scene would be quite similar. There was a parade, street markets, concerts, games for the children, and of course the competitions. They had watermelon tossing, seed spitting, even watermelon skiing. Some of the outfits in the crowd were, ummm, entertaining. To me, the most exciting part of the day was finding a stand with BOILED PEANUTS! They were not as good as my Aunt Carolyne’s, but they were very tasty and reminded me of home. I may just have to make a trip back to South Carolina for my next watermelon festival. We will see how it compares!