I Love A Good Parade!!

It's currently the Carnival of Flowers week here in the Garden City of Toowoomba - gardens all around the city have been weeded, watered, under planted, trimmed, clipped and decorated to within an inch of their lives and the city is shining! Unlike the sun at the moment ... which is behind the leaking clouds! :0)

Our Carnival week kicks off every year with a Grand Parade and as I do love a good parade, we wandered down for a little look-see. We're really fortunate to live about three blocks from the tail end of the parade route, so don't have the headache of finding a parking spot - which is good, cos both of our streets were chock-a-block with nose-to-tail vehicles on Saturday at parade time!! Now although I won't bore you with photos of EVERY float from the parade, I will share quite a few with you, so grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy the highlights of Toowoomba's Carnival of Flowers Grand Parade for 2009, which celebrated 60 years this year - it's Diamond Jubilee!!

The Parade was led off by our Town Crier, complete with kilt, tri-corner hat and very loud bell ... which he took great delight in ringing!!


Next came some mounted Police Officers - don't know how they'd go in a high-speed chase, but there's something appealing about them. Probably a left over "girl-and-her-horse" thing from primary school days.


Hmmm ... I'm not really very sure what these were supposed to be, but they were pretty and colourful, so I took a photo. Wouldn't want to be these guys if it got a bit too warm and the balloons started popping!!!


And what's a parade without pom-pom girls! Hmmm ... well ... actually ... it's still a parade ... but you get what I mean - I hope! :0)


OK all you closet Australian Idol fans ... here's one of this year's special guests for the Carnival - past AI contestant-turned-soapy-star Dean Guyer! Yes, there were teenagers screaming ... and one Mum who's daughter looked mortified! Tee! Hee! Hee! In case you can't tell ... Dean's the one NOT facing the camera - of course! (Slow digital camera speed makes a moving parade a bit of a challenge to photograph!!)


A few parade entrants took the '60's' theme on board, including Heritage Building Society who had their very own Austin Powers impersonator - "Oh bee-HAAAVE!!".


They also had their own go-go dancers. "YEAH BABY!!" Get a load of that piggy-bank! Couldn't I buy some fabric with the contents of THAT! Tee! Hee! Hee!


Another 60's themed float had a rolling Woodstock type concert happening - without the drugs and rain and probably a few other unsavory facets of the original! :0) Yep, we had a 'G' rated parade!


Aaaaaarrrrrrrr! Me hearties!! When they named this guy Looooooooong John Silver they were right! Talking about his legs, of course!! What did you THINK I meant?!?! 'G' rated, remember! :0) I might add that his wooden leg is almost as tall as me, so that tells you how far off the ground this guy was!! And he was leading the ...


... The "Black Diamond" fastest ship on the Toowoomba seas!


It always makes my Scottish blood soar to hear bagpipes - can't help but tap my toes, but DID refrain from doing the highland fling - my twisted ankle wouldn't have been up to it! That's MY story and I'm sticking to it!! These pipers were closely followed by ...


... a castle?!?! There you go - just when you think you've seen it all! :0) And just to make my all-things-Scottish-loving pal Linda happy ...


Another pipe band! If you want to make Linda swoon, you just have to 'speak Scottish' to her ... "bagpipes ... kilt ... loch ... Sean Connery...! Tee! Hee! Hee!


There were some lovely vintage and classic cars, but this was my fave, as the participants were in period dress to match ... well ... except for the sunnies, perhaps!


This butterfly looked fabulous, but I'm not sure I'd want her to land on my garden! :0)


There was a large contingent of Red Hatters on hand to celebrate - this is just a small part of the group, as they were spread out somewhat, chatting to folks as they went along. When I 'grow up' I think I want to be a Red Hatter, too! :0)


The cast of an upcoming production of "Cats" were on hand to play - and scare small children, as it turned out! Tee! Hee! Hee! Guess she was a dog person!


This is the ATS Belly Dance Troupe I used to perform with, "Drum Dance Belly Dance". They do have a web site, but I'm not sure what the exact address is. I'd still love to be dancing, but they changed class times so there aren't any that fit my schedule now - but I still occasionally scare the neighbours by turning up the Middle Eastern music and shimmying around the lounge room! :0) There's a mental picture for you! Tee! Hee! Hee!


"Use the force, Luke!" ... "I have a bad feeling about this!!" Stormtroopers took to the streets of Toowoomba - probably regretting leaving their home planet which is MUCH cooler and more suited to their cumbersome armour! :0)


Just in case the Stormtroopers overheat, here's the vintage firefighting equipment - bet the fire-ees are REALLY pleased this mode of transport has changed!

And bringing up the rear of the parade to pick up stragglers (or arrest those having a little too much fun?!?!) was the highway patrol car travelling at a MUCH more sedate pace than usual. Of course, we DID kind of wish it would hit the accelerator to see what happened to the flowers! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So, there you go, a bit of a glimpse at the 2009 Carnival of Flowers Grand Parade. Hope you enjoyed the peek. I'm hoping to go to some of the prize-winning gardens for a little look-see in the next day or so, so will be back with garden pics if I manage it. Til then ... May the force be with you!!! The FURRY force, that is! :0)

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS