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V.V.C.A.A. HALFWAY RUN.
For many years now the Sydney members and the Brisbane members of the club have been running an annual run approximately halfway between these two cities. This year the chosen venue was Sawtell, about 10 miles south of Coffs Harbour. The information about the run as published in the “Royal Mail” looked so interesting that Clive decided that we should join them. The two events directors, Chris Osborne and Mike Ferguson were in charge of the run, so we rang Chris and asked if we could go. He was quite surprised that we were interested, and quite excited too that we were prepared to travel that far to be with them. As the run was due to start on May 24 we left home in the 1954 Chevrolet on Tuesday, May 18th and made it to Ouyen the first night. The weather was kind and we had trouble free motoring all the way spending nights in Rankin Springs and Dunedoo. From here we detoured through Willow Tree to collect some spare parts for 1947 that Clive is currently restoring. Stayed a night in Tamworth, then down through Dorrigo into Sawtell. The run had booked accommodation at the Sawtell Caravan Park, lots of comfortable cabins, caravans and camp sites. The huge camp kitchen, with four barbecue plates and loads of tables and benches was our main meeting place, most evenings we ate together here. With 18 entrants from Sydney and 16 from Queensland we were quite a large party. It was great to meet up with so many friends that we had made at previous rallies. This was a very relaxed gathering, no formal displays or judging, just a week long picnic. Monday was a free day to explore Coffs Harbour in your own time, we were supplied with maps and list of attractions to chose from. We decided to try the Big Banana complex, boy that had grown since I was there last in 1970. I loved the lolly shop where we stopped to watch them making apple rock candy. Tried some banana and chocolate muffins and banana ice cream. Drove around the harbour and admired the views. On Tuesday they planned to drive up to Dorrigo and do the rainforest sky walk,but as we had already been down that road (which had quite a lot of road works going on), we opted to go north along the coast to Woolgoolga. Wednesday was another designated free day. After a late breakfast and feeding the lorikeets on our deck we had a leisurely cruise down the coast to Nambucca
Heads. On the way back we stopped at the Honey Place, bought some ginger flavoured honey and honey ice cream. Some of the men had gone fishing for the day so there a few families having barbecued fish for tea. On Thursday there was another planned run to Glenreagh, in the hills behind Coffs Harbour. It was a damp and showery day, but that didn’t stop us enjoying the run. We stopped at Nana Glenn for morning tea, the fluffiest and most delicious scones I have ever tasted! The lunch at Glenreagh Hotel was pretty good also. Afternoon was spent inspecting the historic railway workshop and the museum. On the way home we took a different road to visit Sealy lookout to see a panoramic view of Coffs Harbour. Friday was a fun day on the village green area of the caravan park. The Queensland team had organised some gymkhana events and we were asked which side we wanted to be on, apparently this is a regular fun contest, but we decided to be observers only. Cars with passengers competed over a set course, first stop was to peg underwear on a clothes line (two pegs to each garment) in the fastest time. At the second stop the passenger had to get out and be blindfolded while the car drove on to a set point, then the passenger had to locate the car by the sound of its horn. Then the passenger had to spear potatoes from a pile and then drop them into a saucepan when the driver moved forward. The next obstacle was when a plumb-bob was hung on the car rear bumper and the driver had to back over a set spot. A table of mystery objects and a trivia quiz completed the course.
At the farewell dinner at the RSL Club that evening fun prizes were awarded for the various stages and the interstate competition was declared a draw. We got a special mention as the furthest travelled.
The next day, Saturday, we began our trip home on a slightly different route, going down the coast to Wauchope then inland to Walcha. Gilgandra was our next overnight stop, then Goolgowi and Renmark. Arrived home on Wednesday 2nd June after a very pleasant and relaxing holiday.
Jean Luedeke.
Port Pirie Rally.
The Pirie and District Automotive Restorer’s Club held their 13th Biennial Rally over the Queen’s Birthday long week end. Clive and I decided to enter and persuaded Mike O’Brien to come with us. We set off on Friday, June 11, travelling via Pt. Wakefield, Kadina and Pt. Broughton. We had booked into Bentley’s Cabin Park and found the cabin spacious, well equipped and comfortable.
Registration was at the clubrooms Saturday morning where the cars were methodically parked on the adjacent hockey ground. Morning tea and lunch were served in the clubrooms, then judging began by popular vote. Voting was made easy by the colour coding of the rally numbers and voting slips. After an ample afternoon tea we returned to cabin to prepare for the evening entertainment. It was a Country and Western theme meal at the Football club, and many of the crowd dressed up in check shirts and cowboy hats, one brave fellow even dressed up as a horse! There were prizes for costumes and mystery parcels for every entrant. We were also entertained by a very talented lady on the piano, and a couple of hilarious skits. A very good night. Sunday morning saw us all gathering at the K Mart car park ready to take off on the days run to Port Broughton. On the way there was a quiz sheet to fill in. After lunch on the oval a few gymkhana events kept everyone amused. The Dinner Dance and trophy award dinner was staged in the Northern Festival Centre. Another delicious meal and a most enjoyable evening.
We did not attend the Monday morning farewell breakfast, but I am sure that it would have been a very generous feed. Altogether a most pleasant week end.
Jean Luedeke
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