Saturday 7 April 2012

Royal Easter Show - Woodchopping


For mine, this is the highlight of the Royal Easter Show. I was delighted a number of years ago to discover that the sport of woodchopping commenced in Australia and has spread to New Zealand, Canada, USA, Wales, Ireland, England, and Spain. Although this event is the highlight of their competition calendar, there are many events all year round, through each of the states of Australia.


The sport includes: Underhand chopping, Standing Block Chopping, Treefelling, Single and Double handed Sawing, and Axe throwing. I watched the first four events of the 18 days of competition. This involved axemen from NZ, QLD, NSW, WA, and Victoria. The top photograph shows a competitor in the Standing Block, and the lower photograph shows a competitor in the Underhand Chopping.

I'll have you know that I risked life and limb to clamber to the uppermost tier of the arena to bring you the wide-angle shot!

11 comments:

Miss_Della said...

Love the sign for Nowra Chainsaw's in the background. You always gotta have a backup plan.

biebkriebels said...

I appreciate it very much you risked your life for a blogpost. I wouldn't have expected something else.. The underhand chopping seems rather dangerous to me, you have to avoid chopping in your feet.
Have a Happy Easter, Marianne

Jo said...

Great coverage and it wouldn't have been the same if you did't get the wide angle shot.

Rose ~ from Oz said...

Loved this post Julie, appreciation for risking life and limb!! In Tasmania we lived not far from David Foster (world champ woodchopping) and my other half is an expert bushman from way back and (if situation requires it) can chainsaw or axe a tree down to within inches of where he intended. He has some stunning old axes that are his pride and joy.

Rae Walter said...

Fabulous shots Julie. and thanks for clambering to the top of the stand. I had not realised that the sport had grown so much and thought that it was a dying art. I have enjoyed watching wood chopping at the Royal Show here in Perth since I was a little kid. Wonderful post.

Ann said...

Well done, it was the worth the climb. I missed the woodchopping. It had finished when I got there. I'm not as happy with my shots as I'd hoped. I felt pretty flat that day and it shows in the results.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I risked life and limb to clamber to the uppermost tier of the arena to bring you the wide-angle shot!:

you were very brave. The other day in NZ, one of the axe flew and landed on a spectator.

Joe said...

wonderful photos Julie. I particularly like the depth of the middle one. I could have done with one of the wood choppers today. We had to chop up a tree which blew down in our yard in heavy winds last night. Thankfully there was no damage except to my muscles this afternoon.

Gemma Wiseman said...

I used to love the woodchopping in the old showground in Sydney! We used to wander the show in the morning - mainly the animals - and then eat lunch while we watched the woodchopping! Good to see that the art is still very much alive!

brattcat said...

we applaud your heroic efforts. thank you!

Jim said...

Great show shots.
Sydney - City and Suburbs