KOI COMMUNITY
Koi2000 O
n Bank Holiday Monday, May 3 at 3.00am, myself, BKKS Chairman Peter Robbins and Roy Wenman set off to Dover to catch the ferry to France. From there we had a seven-hour hour drive to Holland for the setting up of the Koi2000 show. It was lunchtime when we arrived at the showground and everyone was in the marquee enjoying a bite to eat. We walked in to a very warm welcome and enjoyed having some time to catch up with our friends before getting stuck into the work.
Our job was to help set up the show ring and make up the splash guards that stand between the fibreglass vats. These vats are very different to ours – they stand 110cm high and are over 220cm wide so they are quite big. With a total of 67 vats at the show, we couldn’t possibly have got them all completed in one afternoon. On the Tuesday we carried on with the task in hand until we ran out of splash guards! Not to be beaten we made the remaining 12 necessary guards ourselves. By Wednesday morning we were putting up the vat boards and filling the vats with
water. Again this is very different to the way we do things at home. The water here is stored in six large containers which are filled with mains water that has been pumped through a Vitlerliser – this basically a steel funnel which mains water is pumped through to filter the water. From here the water is pumped to the vats which have a trickle system. This runs constantly from the moment the fish arrive until they go home.
The fish arrive
The first of 548 fish began to arrive on the Thursday morning at 9.30am. Roy and I were given the responsibility of debagging and checking all the koi. There was a steady flow of koi arriving until 9.20pm and, as you can probably appreciate, we were ready to put our feet up by then. But before we could leave we had to make sure all the vat covers were on.
There was much talk during the day about how the benching team were going to get to the show. We were very worried at one point because they were travelling from England and ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano had closed some of the UK airports. It was touch and go but, thankfully, they made it – although with some delay.
The show
As the benching team had been delayed the results were not displayed until early on the Saturday morning. Some of the dealers were not happy about this but it was accepted that they were unforeseen circumstances – nobody could have predicted the ash cloud which caused so much chaos!
Sue and Colin Ravenhill and Steve and Angie Watson picked the BKKS Friendship Award for the best fish and Roy and I picked the winner of the Essex Award which went to a lovely Kohaku. Mind you, I was very taken with one Chagoi that measured 94cm. It really stood out.
Unfortunately the weather wasn’t that great on the show days and we had quite a bit of rain. It didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits though and it seemed like a great time was being had by all. The sun did make a welcome arrival on the Sunday afternoon though.
Around 8000 people attended the show. Although this was down slightly on the previous year (probably because it was also Mothers Day), we all felt it was a great result. John Botha Essex Section
ome of readers of Koi Carp Magazine will no doubt be aware that I have friends and family in Australia. For some time now it has been a dream to emigrate there, especially as my own kids are grown up and have flown the nest.
In late May I spent a week Down Under being interviewed for a new job with my Company’s Australian Distributor. Well, I’m pleased to say that I got the job, and now I have the arduous task of getting my Work Visa processed, selling my house in North Wales and (most upsetting of all) selling my koi!
I managed to meet up with an old friend of mine in Sydney. Some of you will know Kate McGill as a BKKS and ZNA Koi Judge and author of numerous books and articles on Koi Appreciation. Kate assures me that the New South Wales koi scene is friendly and vibrant, and that the home
Exciting times for Martin Rocliffe S
NWKS Chairman swaps ‘old North Wales’ for ‘New South Wales’
bred koi are rapidly improving in both quality and size.
It will take me three to five months to get things organised, so NWKS aren’t rid of me yet! I hope to be involved with club pond visits and barbecues etc, as well as hopefully finding homes for my beloved koi in the ponds of NWKS members.
I thought you may enjoy the photo of a worker at Dubai Airport’s koi pond. I’m not sure his method of cleaning is recommended by BKKS!
Martin Rocliffe NWKS Chairman
Everyone at Koi Carp Magazine wishes Martin all the very best as he prepares for his new life in Australia. We just have one request Martin – that you keep in touch and share all the koi news and gossip from Down Under!
AUGUST 2010 83
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