NSW May Getogether - Blacksmiths Caravan Park

[JBJ]

hi Reddo,

Looked like a great little weekend away, like we used to have back at the start.

Nothing wrong with small groups.

Hopefully I'll have a 3 person towcar before too long, & we can start coming back to a few of the southern weekends.

JBJ

[jann]

Hi Reddo, We came down after 4:30 pm on saturday to say hello but we must of just missed you. another time hey

Andy & I + Ben, had such a lovely welcome to VV and had some great adviced on our van. Am hoping the van will be on the road soon now we know what to do

Geoff & Jude thank you for the invite into your van it was a pleasure seeing it & cheers for the glass of wine too.. oops should say glasses. ;D

George and Barb it was also lovely chatting about your van too and your plans for electric breaks in the future!!
Im sure us young ones can gained some real knowledge & experience,soon enough.

Ben our lil boy almost 3, loved gaining some helpful adviced aswell. He was quickly taught on how to hide crisps( chips) into his jacket pocket for later .......am so looking forward to another helpful hint next time ;D ;D ;D

Cheers Jan

[Don Ricardo]

Hi Reddo,

Thanks for posting the photos from the Blacksmiths get together. Looks like a good time was/is being had by all concerned. Top spot, judging from the pics.

Not having the freedom to get away on weekends because of Don Ricardo's work (and sometimes mine), I get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing others enjoy themselves!

I trust that your trip today goes smoothly, and that Trish's sister is improving, or at least holding her own. Let us know how things are going. In the meantime you are all in our thoughts and prayers.

Don Ricardo

[Deleted]

Hi Andy and Jann
Sorry i missed you guys yesterday arvo.
Glad to hear you received a warm welcome from the van mob.....
I think you will find that all vint vanners are made in the same mould and are happy to share there knowledge and hospitality with newcomers..... and the public in general.

Only a small group this weekend but as JBJ and Firefighter have eluded to its the small gathering that are quite often the best...
You get to spend time with each owner/couple and you go away feeling that you havent ignored / snobbed anybody...

Back to 4.00pm Friday arvo........
and this is where the story realy starts....
Message from Maurie...
"canetoad alert... canetoad alert....Seen on Pennant Hills Rd , Carlingford.... Pastel green EH ute towing unusual square shaped object ... best described as "FUGLY"....
Repeat.......................... CANETOAD ALERT!!!!"

I could tell by the tone of his voice he was deeply concerned about the migratory path North of the car and van.....
and rightly so might i add...
I checked my second missed call and ....... sure enough ... my fears had come true...
"Hello Reddo.... Its the Sutcacs and we are camped at The( dog friendly )Pines Caravan Park Belmont..about 2k up the road just wanna know whats doin for dinner. Thought we might drop in for a few dark and stormys"...


I knew it... i just bloody knew it.... The snow at Bright wasnt enough to freeze them out of NSW.. They had tracked us down and where threatening socialisation ( word for today )...
I quickly alerted the others.. suggestions like... Lets all run and hide.. move to another park....
Hell there was even an offer of gettin grandads shotgun down off the mantle piece... ( people can be so unkind.. and here is me saying we are a caring sharing lot... )

Before we could get the gun turrets and barbed wire set up there came a woopin and holering at the gate...
The general concensus was to leave em on the other side of the fence and feed em pieces of pizza through the mesh....
I just couldnt do it folks... Homeless people from QLD need lovin too.... ;D
It was Clyde and Barb..... and .. all jokes aside it was really great to catch up with these two for the first time since the end of Coledale last year.
I had a yarn with the caretaker and managed to get the EH and contents ( including Tally Hound ) in through the gate... such a sweet holden should not be left on the street...



Day turned into night .....
Perfectly normal people turned into rowdy revellers........
We took over the camp kitchen and had a great BBQ meal.
Chit chat filled the air for a few hours...


Split the atom.. found a cure for the common cold... raised a glass to the gods who invented alcohol.....

All was going great until the old chestnut was cracked.....
Well actually the convo got around to Footy.....to be specific....The state of Origin - NSW V QLD. Footy.... .............

Now most of you that have been on this site for a few years know that the No:1 fan of the QLD Maron Canetoads is Clyde....... and the No:1 fan of the fabulous wanderful bestest team ever NSW Blues is me.........
Well..... I just happened to mention that NSW is gunna kick butt wedensday night..... and things turned ugly.. The mild mannered ex teacher turned into an ugly pub brawler and snotted me with a left to the beak....followed by a right upper cut...
this caused the snoz to let out claret..

I tell ya folks a lesser man would have dropped..
But NO.. not me .. i focused up and landed a good solid reply to Sutacs hooter and the Sutcac was the exact opposite... yup.. he was Cactus...


Took a while for the crowd to pull us apart and get us to shake hands .. make up and return to the drinkin...
Both agreed to disagree and each retired to their respective corners to lick their wounds.... and clean up the tomato sauce... .

To be continued........
Oh .. one more thing... Go the Blues.... ;D

Footnote"...
Travelled to Sydney Royal North Shore Hospital today. Trishas sister is sitting up eating spoon fed small bits and pieces.. recognised Trish and i straight away.
Looked a lot better than we had expected.

Still 2 weeks before decision by doctors on how to operate on the blood clot....
An extended stay after operation... :-/one day at a time .
Thanks for the concern guys..
Reddo and Trish

[bobandjacqui]

Thanks for posting the pics Reddo, good to see some of the NSW Mob out there enjoying their vans and the company of like minded VV nutters ;D ;D ;D

Glad to see Clyde and Barb down there keeping you on your toes

Cheers Bob and Jacqui ;D

[Geoff & Jude]

hi all

just a few piccies of the weekend.

thursday night before the "mob" arrived.





saturday tour, beside the lake







high on a hill (that almost sent the pacemaker into a frenzy)



sitting around being lazy



some car night shots









reddo's new ute - very nice



great weekend had by all - gotta do it more often.

fantastic to catch up with barb and clyde again and to meet andy, jan and ben for the first time.

see all the bravehearts at blackheath (let it snow, let it snow, let it snow).

geoff 'n jude

[Deleted]

Good to see Geoff and jude have made it home OK....

Heres the last bit from me...
Couple more ... "night shots"...






Got up saturday morning to witness a mad frenzy of activity as the vint vanners headed off to the markets...
I stayed back and chamoised off the FJ....camping so close to the beach soaks the car in heavy condensation.

That done i then headed off to the local pie shop which Geoff had recommended the day before...apparently he has an addiction to mushy pea pies....
Only to find "The Marketeers"all stuffing pies into their face....
Apparently ... someone... had printed up the markets calander wrong and they werent on until next weekend.
A quick regroup and then we headed off to Mt Sugarloaf which is at the top end of Lac Mac and around 330 mtres high..
A brief stop along the way for an antique shop foray ...
Then up the mountain..or should that read "Heartbreak hill"
The last 100 metres to the lookout had to be done on foot.

Those that went up where rewarded with a view that extends from The Buladelah ranges in the north to Gosford in the south.

back to the carpark ........
I showed the crowd how much horsepower a well tuned 138 puts out....with a tyre melting demo

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
By now it was lunchtime and the girls wanted lunch by the lake..
Back down the mountain... a quick tour of "The shed of Inention"..which also unearthed a letter for the "No-el christmas carol "EH ute..
Geoff christened Clyde and Barbs ute that name as the letter "L"was missing from the tailgate.
Luckily i had dug a heapa letters off an EH sedan i wrecked a few years ago... and the "L"will be re-instated shortly....

Took off to Toronto Royal Motor Yacht Club for lunch ... via Holmesville PUB.. Home of former miss world .. Jenny Hawkins.. as we drove up to the pub there was about 6 Harleys out the front.. One of which i identified as owing the owner a few dollars... So like Arthur Daley i made good my departure..
10mins on to the yachtys .......magnificent view of some of the fobbergross boat thingys from the deck...

Everyone settled for fish n chips ..

washed down with a cold beer.
Life is tough as a vintage vanner on a mini tour....

A short run south to Wangi Caravan park. Possible site for another Lake mac get together in the future
Then back around the lake... one more antique shop and into camp for "Happy Hour..s...s...s
Exit Reddo
Enter.. John and pam .. Andy and his missus plus little Ben

. It is here where i leave off and let a few others tell yas what saturday night and sunday was like..

To me it felt like a week away... not just an overnighter .

Great mates and matettes.. great vans.. great cars.... great weather....great location... and....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Great hobby

Thanks for coming.. see yas all again soon.
Reddo................. Go the blues ;D

[neilncheryl]

Some great photos there - loved the night shots

[cobber]

A great weekend and thanks to Reddo, who knows the area around the Lake like the back of his hand, and led the convoy to all the top spots on Saturday we were able to appreciate what Lake Macquarie has to offer.
The weather was perfect all weekend but it did rain on Sunday night after most of the crew had left, that was OK too because it washed the salt water spray off car and caravan.

Just a couple of photos to show the valiant few who climbed to the lookout at the top of Mount Sugarloaf and another to show that we did fly the Vintage Caravan Flag





Cobber.

[cobber]

I didn't mention Sundays activities previously because I didn't take photos..... and we know you like photos, but Griffin just sent me these great photos he took so.....
On Sunday we saw the working class off from the caravan park
The Griffins and the Cobbers stayed on and did a tour back over the Swansea Bridge and out to Swansea Heads to watch the boys play with their toys.






Then on to Caves Beach and then... the very interesting Catherine Hill Bay, an old mining town full of the typical miners cottages under threat from the money hungry developers, but the town will go down fighting .. (that is a good web site all about Catho, worth a look )
I'd like to see Catho win this one but as one of the locals said ......."money talks", I hope he's wrong this time

A nice walk along the beach out to inspect the coal loading jetty.




We had lunch at the “Catherine Hill Bay Wallarah Hotel”.....I don't think anybody ever calls it that... it's known far and wide as “The Catho pub” with all the style and charisma of a mining tow pub.

That night we had Dinner at the Swansea Rissole Club and won a meat tray .

All in all a great weekend.... thanks Reddo & all vintage vanners who didn't miss out on a good time.. .. thanks Geoff (conti) for introducing us to the second best pies in NSW … and thanks George for the Sunday tour.

Cobber.