Launch of 'Caravan Fran'- a children's book.

[griffin]

From our participation in CARnivale on Australia Day I have been asked to participate in a book launch with our bondwood.

The book is 'Caravan Fran', a children's book about three friends who go on a caravan adventure for summer. It is a very well illustrated and printed.

The author and illustrator is Cheryl Orsini who has done a lot of illustrating for children's books, but this is her first as an author. She supplied me with this link to the publisher, Hatchette -https://www.hachette.com.au/books/detail.page?isbn=9780734416148 where you can see some of the illustrations and the cover.

'Caravan Fran' is due for release on April 28.

All systems are go for the book launch which will be on Sunday 17th May at Bondi Beach. The author has booked the venue, caterers, musician and a book seller, and Cheryl will be on hand to sign copies. Oh, and our bondwood will make an guest appearance, and maybe another van as well.

She showed me photos of where we will be and it's a great spot, pity I couldn't camp for a week! It got me to thinking, I don't think I've ever been to Bondi Beach, nor have I driven an FX, FJ Holden, it almost makes me question my Citizenship. At least the visit to Bondi will be rectified on the 17th. If you are out and about visitors are welcome from around 12.30pm to 3pm.

Might see you there?

George

[cobber]

Well done George, just what I need, another kids caravan book to add to the collection

So now you can cross Bondi beach off your bucket list, but you still need to have a drive of an FJ Holden  ... by the way is this event being held at "The Bucket List" ?

Cobber.

[Geoff & Jude]

Mar 30, 2015 18:02:24 GMT 10 cobber said:

So now you can cross Bondi beach off your bucket list, but you still need to have a drive of an FJ Holden
Cobber.

good one cobber

i noticed you forgot to mention that you have an fj that george could drive to reduce his bucket list.

anonymous

[griffin]

hi Cobber

Driving an FJ might bring me closer to having a 'bucket list' than I want. My only contact with one was when my youngest brother bought and aged example for his first car. He didn't have it long and the front wheel came off, just about ripped the mudguard off as it exited and the car finished up in a ditch on Cobbitty Road missing the abundant supply of trees. I don't remember if it ever came home, just never saw it again.

George

[cobber]

OK George, how did this highly paid gig go ? Nice day for it, have you got any photos for us (silly question   ) should I race out and buy this book to add to my collection ?

Cobber.

[griffin]

It went well and some photos to follow, not much of the high pay though. I got the distinct impression that a caravan is a novelty at Bondi, wish I had a quid for every photo taken.
Of course you will have to buy one if you want to keep your collection complete.

George

[griffin]

The launch of 'Caravan Fran'went well from our point, apart from an out of date Tom Tom not being aware of 'no right turn' signs where it wanted us to turn right.  Eventually we could make one and at least avoided the dreaded 'make a U turn' conversation.  Wherever we were on the edge of the city (Oxford St?) I got the impression that a caravan of any age was a novelty and the locals were not aware that it is rude to stare.

At Bondi Beach I realised I had been there before, maybe 15 years ago, and just drove past the front of the pavilion to look at the beach.  Even after a second visit I've not yet had the sands of Bondi between my toes or dipped a toe in the ocean, maybe one day.  A beach is a beach to me and I think I'd rather Manley.  Anyway, we arrived outside the pavilion and I ducked between the bollards into a spot on the pavement so I could make enquiries as to just where I had to be.  Immediately the photos started being taken and some would have got a nice shot with the beach behind, unfortunately I didn't and just wanted to get out of where I obviously shouldn't have been before an enthusiast Ranger found me.  Around the block and into a court yard at the back of the pavilion and we were in place.
Book launch-c by viva gt, on Flickr
Lots of people and kids at the launch and most had a look at the van.  I don't think there was one of the dozens of kids who had ever seen or been in a caravan so it was certainly a novelty to them.  Even for most of the parents it was a first time experience.  One grandma at least had a father who had built a van which he later sold to Ashton's Circus.  The replacement van was used for years before becoming an on site van at Coffs Harbour, some photos might materialise in due course.
Pin the ham-c by viva gt, on Flickr
There were cup cakes and nibbles, games and activities for the kids, lots of bright deck chairs, the author had a book reading and some musos provided some entertainment.  What do you call more than one Ukulele player?  Well a Ukulele band of course, six of them strumming away and making merry, most unusual I thought.  A big pile of books was completely sold so the bookseller and the author were happy.
tri colour-c by viva gt, on Flickr
With some recent cooler weather I decided to start stripping the grey/white house paint from the offside to see how the original paint was underneath, but to keep it neat I put some tape on to give a clean edge as I knew I couldn't get it all done before the launch.  So now the old girl has a tri-colour side, which I don't actually mind, but it will all get stripped in time.  Fortunately the last coat of paint went on with no preparation, they even painted over some bird poop!  The result is that the old enamel paint is great and still has a good shine which is very pleasing to me.  This coat of paint was probably put on in the 1980s and I'm really happy it has survived so well.  The colour is slightly different to the original but if the rest of it comes off as well as this lot then it will remain a caravan with two different sides.
With the launch over I scored the couple of posters from the front and we were back home in an hour.  A pleasant afternoon for our first public engagement.  Barbara really seemed to enjoy the time so it was a win all round.


George

[cobber]

GEORGE  "PIN THE HAM ON THE CARAVAN "  I bet any little ankle-biter who tried that got a bit of a surprise

These type of events are always a bit of fun, you never know who is going to turn up with a story about their experiences in old vans when they were young, I've never been part of a bad one yet .

The van is looking good, even beautiful , and a blind man on a galloping horse won't notice the two sides are different colours.

Cobber.

[griffin]

Fortunately the vinyl poster was the spot to pin the ham and other bits and pieces. The ham at least has a spot allocated and I must say they didn't have much idea of where to stow some of the items when I took another look at it later.

You had best be careful, Driftwood will be getting jealous talking about other vans being 'beautiful'. Hopefully I'll get all the paint off by Christmas in July.

George