I met Aja O’Leary on a plane returning to Australia from Cyprus. We talked a lot about our respective lives. She had come to Australia, met her husband, a melon grower, and made Chinchilla her home. Chinchilla is in the Western Downs of Queensland. I realised I had not asked her name, but I had promised that I would go to the Melon Festival she talked so warmly about.

I tracked her down through Facebook and we became friends in the best of Facebook ways and we traded comments and photos – I was determined to go to the Festival, held only every two years, so Gill and I set off to the Western Downs with great enthusiasm but also some anxiety. In the neighbouring town of Tara forty houses had been lost to bush fires and we knew the fires were still blazing. Would we arrive and be unable to go to our motel in Miles which was in the line of fire? Would the Melon Festival be cancelled ? We simply did not know, but were prepared to take the risk after some inquiries – we were very happy we did. The fires were being fought by fire crews from all over Queensland and round the corner from our Motels were the Fire Crew headquarters. We walked past and expressed our heartfelt thanks to all the volunteer firies – Christian and Noel were happy to stop for a photo. They were waiting for none other than the Premier. It just so happened that I was the first to greet her as she got out of the car and then we had a collective photo with the whole team.

The Firies in Chinchilla fighting the bushfires

Onto Melons – starting with the weigh ins – they were massive and the winner was a 90 kilo melon grown by the Davies family. Costas Georgiadis from Gardening Australia was on hand to add a bit of celebrity status to the event. Daisy and Evie O’Leary were there with their own Melons and I was able to deliver a hello to Aja through them.

Darryl O’Leary and Aaron Ryan were the two spokespersons and my word how impressive they were, reminding the audience of the importance of the Festival for the region and thanking its many sponsors, sharing some of its history and personal stories but also many jokes and digs at the contestants and their families. It was full of warmth and Aussie humour. And one of the only places in Australia where Health and Safety was out the window. Melon skiing is not for the faint hearted but there were so many who participated to the delight of hundreds of people who watched from a safe distance as they slid, slipped, twisted and twirled on the watermelon juice, knocking into chunks on the black plastic slides that they skied down. Its a messy business ! Everyone was having so much fun.

We watched parades and floats, sat through the contest of Miss Melon Pinup – the contestants were just amazing, all making their own costumes and having the flair and spirit to strut their stuff. I particularly liked Ms Honey Bee but she didnt win.

Teams had to build their own chariots and load watermelons into them. There were bungee runs and Iron Man and Woman Contests. Family concerts and beach parties with lots and lots of melon outfits. There were thousands of people having a great time including this security guard who sang and danced to all the Smashed Crabs songs.

We chatted to so many people, heard so many local stories, admired their resilience and energy, it is a sweltering 35C, their commitment to community and their ability to bring it all together for us. There was free delicious watermelon for everyone and sunsets to melt into. And that is not even the half of it.

For the video uploads – go to my insta marina.marangos.