VICTORIAN WEEKEND AWAY - BAIRNSDALE - NOVEMBER

[sportsman 1]

Hidey Ho Vintage Vanners.

I have just booked for a long weekend stay down at Bairnsdale for the Melbourne Cup weekend.

It has been fairly quiet on the event calendar for Victoria this year and as we have been flat out personally we felt like we really needed a few days away to relax and get away from it all.

If any other V Vers want to get away for a few days there is room (at the moment) for around another 10 vans in the area we are in.

We have booked from Friday 29th October until Tuesday 2nd November.

As I took this opportunity purely as an individual thing at this stage there is nothing official happening but I am sure if a few of us get down there we can put together some suitable activities.

There is no compulsion to attend and at this stage it is not an official V V event, just thought I would open it up for consideration.

If you wish to attend please make your own booking direct with the park but mention my name so we can be parked in the same area.

Bookings to:

Mitchell Gardens Caravan Park
2 Main St
Bairnsdale
Ph 03 5152 4654

It is a 3 1/2 star park located on the banks of the Mitchell River.

Hope to see a few of you along, should be a good weekend. (the rain will be gone by then!)

Cheers, Leigh

[firefighter]

To all mexicans

Come on all you victorians what about supporting Leigh (sportsman 1 )

Spend the Melbourne cup weekend on the banks of Mitchell river at Bairnsdale throw a sicky on the monday ;D ;D ;D then you have a 4 day break
Don't worry about the boss we will write you out a certificate ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D (don't know if you will still have a job after he reads it)

We have not had an event in vic since the nats in may at Mildura
f/f ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[wagoon]

I guest I can travel the 30mins and say G'day ;D lol
It will be good to have the V Vers in the east.

And give me a good chance to find out what Ive gotten my self in to.

Cheers
wagoon

[Bake`s]

Wendy and I would love to join in ,we were there last Feb beautiful spot,we need a break as well.
Bakes

[sportsman 1]

Hi Bakes,

Just ring the park direct and book.

If you wish to be parked together just mention Leigh Whitfield when you book. The girl there said there was room in my area.

Look forward to seeing you both.

Cheers, Leigh.

[Bake`s]

we can`t be in the same area as yourslves as we have our dog,I tried.
Bakes

[sportsman 1]

Gee,

perhaps I should take a dog and move into your area

And no, Karon DOES NOT qualify

[cruzn]

I live 10mins from Bairnsdale, maybe i can organise a cpl a things to do on that weekend, i have a few ideas if anyone is interested.
There is an Army museum here and the guys the president of my car club but its not open to the public, i can see if he is home on the weekend and organise, its free. and also maybe a morning tea or afternoon tea at my home to check out my van and my toys.
Alan

[sportsman 1]

Sounds good, thanks for the offer Alan.

I will leave it to you to decide what to do and when. We will organise our schedule (ie doing nothing time!!!!!!!!!!!) around what you decide.

Cheers, Leigh.

[cruzn]

ok, i went and saw the guy with the museum today, and he is going to a rally on cup weekend so he wont be home for the whole long weekend. He said that we are always welcome to come back another arranged time, he has car clubs and groups go there all the time.
There is always the Gippsland Vehicle collection in maffra thats a good place to go, its about 50 mins drive west of bairnsdale and virtualy go past my house to get there.
We could do this on the saturday and the sunday go for a drive to Lakes Entrance for lunch on the foreshore.

cheers Al

[sportsman 1]

I personally was thinking of calling in at the Maffra collection on my way back to Melbourne seeing as it is on the way home.

I am planning to head towards Lakes Entrance at some stage, perhaps with a view to getting to Buchan Caves seeing as it is years since I was last there. (I know the caves wont have changed much but my memory certainly has!).

Looking forward to it,

cheers, leigh.

[cruzn]

I think the best thing to do is just decide on the weekend what and where to go, but on the way home at the maffra shed sounds good to me, play it by ear...
What if we just met on the sat morning and go from there, and dont forget it does boil down to how many turn up, but im down here anyway so only if sportsman 1 turns up, but im hoping a few others do also,,, we will enjoy...

[cruzn]

Mum & dad decided to move forward a week moving out of their home into a retirement village in Ballarat, so me and the mrs wont be around on cup weekend as dads nearly 80 they needs all the help they can get.

[sportsman 1]

I hope it all goes well for them, catch up soon perhaps.

Leigh.

[cruzn]

ill pop into the caravan park on the friday around 4 4.30 on my way home from work, ill take the max car so look out for me...

[sportsman 1]

We are not leaving home (Lilydale) until after work on Friday so dont expect to be in Bairnsdale until around 10.00 Friday night.

[dave01]

We were hoping to come this weekend, at least for a visit, but sadly work commitments will prevent us from attending. Hope to catch up soon. Will try to organise a run in the new year if people are interested.
Dave and Lilian

[sportsman 1]

Thanks Dave,

I will look forward to attending a run in the new year with you both.

Leigh.

[cruzn]

I will be back sunday arvo, if before dark ill pop down to the caravan park, other wise will be monday morning to say gday...

[sportsman 1]

Despite the weather we are heading off to Bairnsdale this arvo with Hilda in tow.

They tell me it is not going to be as bad there as in Melbourne.

Hope to catch up with whoever can make it between tomorrow and Tuesday.

Cheers, Leigh.

[robbo3]

Did anyone take photos?

[cruzn]

When i got back from Ballarat late sunday arvo, i got the xb out and went and visited those that were at the caravan park, we stayed untill dark.
The following afternoon some of the group visited my house to check out my van and my toys, leigh took a few pics so we await there posting...
The group of us had dinner the monday night at the RSL in Bairnsdale which a meal and a chat was enjoyed by all.

[sportsman 1]

Well, thats another Melbourne Cup weekend done and dusted.

We left Melbourne at 5.30pm with the hope we could outrun the weather and arrive in Bairnsdale in time to set up before the rain came. Well we certainly did that. Arrived at 9.15 and had a quick bite to eat and set up the van ready for the deluge that did not eventuate.

There was a short light shower at 7.00 Saturday morning, a couple of showers late on Saturday night/Sunday morning, a bit of rain for about an hour at 4.00 Sunday night (just as Alan and Kas (cruzin2themax) arrived to say hello and a couple of short showers Sunday night. The rest of the time it varied between overcast and clear blue skies. Glad we got out of Melbourne!

It was a really lay back weekend with just 3 Forum members attending in vans. We spent most of the weekend spending some quality v v time getting to know each other and chatting about vans or just doing our own thing. The park was a picture with lovely lush green grass everywhere and most of the sites were nestled under magnificent large shady trees.



Those attending, in no particular order, were

Case and Louise (case) in their Olympic



Roger and Wendy (bakes) in their Olympic



Leigh and Karon (sportsman1) in their Clipper





Also Alan and Kas dropped in on Sunday night to say hello. They invited us to come out to their property on Monday to see their collection of cars as well as their recently purchased Don Cadet.





A little bit of wood and paint and she will be good as new!

We got together on Monday night for a meal at the local RSL which was enjoyed by all.



All too soon it was time to head home. Hopefully we can get another weekend organised for early in the new year.

Cheers, Leigh.

[bobt]

hey come on Leigh... ya said the weekend was good...

where are the photos...

bobt ;D ;D

[sportsman 1]

Look above Bob,

must have beaten your post by a nanosecond.

Besides, had last night off to go to the meeting, I have been outside working on Hilda tonight.

Leigh.