Hi all
What a great weekend! Us mob up this end of Oz usually have a quiet weekend get-together, drinking tea and chatting about van related subjects! But not this weekend!
Highlights of the weekend for Rob & I were:
The feeling of being in a 1960’s Caravan Park! You could stand down either end of 2 roadways & all you could see were vintage vans closely packed together. Magic!
I loved Sunday’s sunset when we all sat around in the roadways chatting over drinks & nibbles balanced on old eskys underneath the mature Norfolk Pines & Cocos palms (just like a real 60’s park). I make no apologies for asking the only modern van present to park off to one side of the Park (valuable info for future events such as the Nats?).
Di, Joey, Julie & Marg having nibbles in front of Don 100
Scud (Self Contained Ultrahungry Dog) with the lads
The way everyone realized space was short & just got their vans in with no fuss or drama, then parked modern cars off to the edge of the Park. It was a real punt that everyone would fit in but they did brilliantly. It was coincidental that all the Sunliners ended up together & all the Olympics were pretty much together as well, with the top & bottom rows being bondwoods, smaller alis & quirky vans such as Fugly & the Puck. That made for a great display & easily understandable for the public, as they could see the variety of sizes/colours in those van types.
Vi, Jacqui & Sharon playing rummy in front of Fugly
The steady stream of visitors all weekend with many previous residents of the Park coming to reminisce. One man told us he’d had his van parked there for 10 years when he worked in Brisbane. He said what kept him going through the week was looking forward to being in the van over the weekend! The 80 year-old Park owner chatted about when he lived in Melbourne in his 20’s & he built a caravan, then he sold it, then he built another etc. He clearly remembered Don caravans being built.
Facilities at the Park were still the same as 1962, apart from the solar water heaters, with the plywood Ladies sign on the bathroom door, concrete tubs & wooden clothes props.
Being able to proudly say to the media people who were so impressed by our get-together & display of vans: we belong to a vintage caravan Internet forum that has nearly 2500 members Australia wide & we’re lucky enough to also have a local SEQ forum to facilitate get-togethers in our area, with no committees & no fees in any forum. This is a mainstream pastime, not a bunch of freaks!
And of course being with such a great bunch of vinvanning people! Doug put up with his van being Party Central all weekend; Banno brought 4 gazebos & massive bbq to create a camp kitchen for us all to shelter in the sweltering heat; Barb & Clyde did it again with their bbq’ed Garlic Prawns on Saturday night, & Brendo brought chips galore to go with the prawns; Mandy & Earlee provided music for dancing; Steve & Brendo set up the TV in back of Sandman for footy tragics to watch their Final; Banno & Joey did their griddle cake breakfast for our mob and the MOTLEY crew plus even the media on Monday morning; Bob did a massive blitz with the media during the previous week & synchronized the MOTLEY crew’s arrival on Monday.
And the rest of us brought vans & cars for their first outings: Steve & Sharon with their immaculate Arrow & matching Zepher; Marg on her first ever caravanning outing with her funky Eriba Puck; Dave with his gorgeous revamped ’36 Bedford, & we took out our 75 year old Don 100 on her first camping trip since about the 1950’s or 60’s.
And of course all the others such as Trev & Julie, and Bob who are living with illness & making every day count! You’re all legends!
Trev & Julie’s immaculate Olympic & Holden ute
Jeanette & Rodnet with 16’ Sunliner & Boblor
Thanks again guys! See you all at Canungra!