Review – Outback Spectacular High Country Legends

Last week we were invited to preview the new show Legends of the High country at The OutBack Spectacular. It was great, it was filled with lots of variety including a 1920’s mini circus, snow falling from the cieling and quad bike races involving the audience.

I am often asked if its suitable for kids – in fact the person sitting next to us was surprised we had brought our kids. We try to take them everywhere with us as we believe the more the see the more they learn. Perhaps we’re lucky and they are just well behaved kids but we have never had a major issue at any show. Maybe a few questions here and there during a show from the youngest who has a hard time of being quiet and is very inquisitive. They have been to shows since they were babies so perhaps it’s more of a “they are used to it” scenario. So to answer the question: Yes it’s great for kids!

As well as your meal included there is a holding area where you can soak up the atmosphere of the country show. This is great place to have pre-dinner drinks and let the kids have a dance around to the music and of course go and meet the stars of the show – the Horses.

This is what my 7 year old had to say about the show :

Hi. My name is Arabella, Shellie’s daughter. I am delighted to make this review. The outback spectacular show was terrific, but i was a bit scared when i thought the men were whipping the horses,(later mum told me that they were just cracking a whip on the sand)because i was afraid that it would hurt the horses(i am in the middle of reading Black Beauty). My favourite part was when Emma told us about when her mum was a little girl. I also loved Mrs johnson’s apple pie. When we came out, my brother was pretending to be a horse and I was asking for a pet!!

Tickets can be purchased here

If you want to feel personally attacked by a collection of knitting and crochet patterns as I was, check out the “90s Mod Inspired” pattern lookbook from Yarnspirations.

It’s actually a great collection of patterns for folks who want to stitch up that Y2K look again (or for the first time). There’s an oversized, striped grandpa cardigan! A (crocheted) plaid messenger bag! A boxy argyle vest, and a rolled hem sweater the likes of which I bought in a store in the ’90s and knit a replica of later.

There’s also a section of “Prep School” patterns (think “Clueless,” they’re even called things like “As if” and “Betty”) including a granny square tie and crocheted wrap skirt, and a knit cabled pullover, beret and cardigan with blocky stripes. Other sections include casual collegiate, punk and mod, and academia.

Some of the patterns repeat among the sections but there’s a nice selection for people who want a little throwback for their back to school and fall wardrobes.

Since I had this sweater, we’ll take a closer look at the Caron Cropped Stripy Sweater. The one I knit from a pattern of my own devising in the mid ’00s was tonal blues, but this one calls for two colorways of Colorama Haze, a fuzzy self-striping worsted weight yarn.

The pattern comes in six sizes, with chest measurements ranging from 39 to 60 inches (that’s 99 to 152.5 cm). Clearly that’s a lot of ease at the lower sizes, since the smallest size is meant to fit an actual chest measurement from 28-34 inches, or 71-86.5 cm.

The sweater is a modified drop shoulder worked flat in pieces and seamed. That means the stripes probably won’t match around the body but it’s still a classic look. This one does have ribbing at the neckline, where the original sweater I owned and my re-creation had rolled hems throughout, but you can do it either way depending on your preference.

Do any of these projects remind you of clothes you might have worn or knit in the past? I’d love to hear about it!

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