I would like to start by thanking everyone involved with the Pigeon Fanciers Society of New South Wales, who made my first ever trip to Australia as enjoyable as anyone could ever imagine. My girlfriend Elaine and I found Sydney and Australia an awesome place with very impressive surroundings with plenty of things to see and do. We stayed on the 'Rocks' between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house - what a setting.
After spending three days in Sydney, it was time to set off on our journey to Wyong to meet John Hanson who would be taking us to the NSW Young Bird Show the following weekend. Our journey was by train and took us through densely populated woodland with some picturesque places along the Hawkesbury River, which was a very enjoyable experience in itself.
John Hanson saw to it that we were well taken care of, and the hospitality we received was second to none. After spending a day handling and looking through possibly one of the biggest collections of quality Racing Pigeons, it was time to make our way to the show hall. We set off on the Friday night down to the Pigeon and Poultry Exhibition Centre at the Fairfield City Show Ground. On arriving at the exhibition centre I found a purpose -built hall which had 2000 permanent pigeon/poultry pens. The show hall was very well laid out with excellent lighting and many pictures of past winners adorning the walls. There were also storage cupboards where the club fanciers could purchase pigeon products at discounted prices due to the forward thinking of NSW Committee. This was a credit to everyone involved and made me very envious of this amazing set-up!
While not trying to get in the way of the fanciers penning the birds we were warmly welcomed by the hard-working committee, and soon had a lovely cup of coffee made by Barry Shepherd, who manned his post for the entire weekend.
We were introduced to the Show Secretary Steve Cummings who had everything under control, ably assisted by Catherine and Lisa Weekes, and their dad, Club President Robert Weekes.
