2011 East Coast Tour.

[Deleted]

Hi All
Well.... This years tour will go down as "The tour of Attrition"

More on that later.
I got away from home friday morning under a threatening sky.

Down through golbourn .. over to Braidwood and down the Clyde mountain. A massive thunderstorm hit poart of the way down the mountain and i managed to make it down to The steampacket pub without incident.
Had a schooner and looked across at the Nelligen campsite... full of billy lids.. 2 man tents.. sp[eed boats...
Nup.. not staying here. So i drove on down to the seabreeze van park at Moruya.
Caught up with Cruz and had a couple of beers at the pub .
I headed off to bed around 8.30. Not long after i heard the sound of a beefy 6 cylinder pulling in. It was John and pam in their immaculate 240Z Datsun towing the freshly completed TD .

Up early saturday morning. Cruz turned up in the Falcon ute with "Gidget"the globetrotter on behind. Ovewr the Moruya bridge and turn left for our first stop (travelled 1 Kilometre.)..at the markets
Then off down the highway with cruz leading..... and leaving us for dead.... About 20K south we where stopped at a traffic control point.. i could see steam coming up from the Falcon ute....
Brown goop bubling up so we eased the cap off . filled with fresh water and managed to get to the next servo. Dropped the bottom hose off. give it a flush. Back on the ropad. Made it to Cobargo and .....



another top up .
Then... on to Pambula and....
another pit stop...


All seemed Ok then . Made it to Eden around lunch time... met the Kaybees heading out the van park gate to do some shopping.
Everyone booked in and set up... sky still threatening and things cooling off.












Will post this lot and then continue the story. I hate losing photos and things not loading due to computer issues.
Reddo

[Deleted]

The tour cont'

some more shots from"The Garden of Eden."CV park
Nice clean park with excellent ammenties.

New thermostat. rip the radiator out a good flush. fill with fresh drink.. all ok the rest of the trip.


I titled this next picture "Who farted"....

They where all there when i left for a wee???



Night fall..


Sunday was ovecast and cool. A few of the crew went out on a Whale watching cruise while iu baby sitted "Boss"Kaybees pooch. we went and checked out the wharf and the fishing trawlers...

Can spot a few OHS issues here of concern


Spotted a couple of seals having a splash about....Boss went off his nut at em..


No visit to a town is complete without a visit to the pub. I stayed here back in 1983 when about 15 of us went through there on our way to the Hells Angels Christmas show at Broadford. Lotsa fond memories of the Australasia Hotel.

Met up with the sight seers down at the wharf .. back to camp for some tasty fish ands chips before heading off to the Killer whale museum.What a great museum. The disp[lay and the history is fantastic. same about all the whales that where slaughtered though. . As they say.. peole had to make a living.

Some more shots from camp..


"Palmila"decided to "Get up[ "and stick her sunnies on...

The crew went out for dinner so i volunteered to mind "Boss"while i cooked in the van. What a mistake that was. The little bugger just sat and stared until he had me feeding him more sausages than i got....
.

Monday dawned bright and sunny so we packed up and headed up the coast about 3/4hr to Tathra. The park is owned by Frankie J Holden .. Of the band "Öld 55".
His missus got us all signed in and settled. Then came over to tell us that the man himself would be coming to check out the vans and have a beer with us in the "Camp barn"around 5 ish.
Sure enough.. he turned up..

Will send this edition and post more..
Reddo

[Deleted]

The tour cont.. Monday...
Tathra is a nice little town. A general store .. few coffee shops etc. and a big pub up on the headland above the old timber wharf.

The beach



$9 lunch and a couple of beers at the pub.

Then back to camp for the arvo session with Frankie J Holden.
waiting.. waiting.. drinking .. drinking..


Thats him in the middle..



He loves his Holdens as much as i do,, so..

Then i conned him into autographing the panno glovebox.

"To Reddo.. Keep on Rollin.. FrankieJHolden"

Pam and John explaining.. Yyyeeesss.. you can actually sleep in these contraptions..

Here is Pam tryin ta seduce Frank into the TD"... ;D

After the tour of the vans we headed down to the camp kitchen which is better known as "The Barn"...its huge. Has a wood fired Pizza oven to the right of the front doors.
No being biased or anything here but i reckon if we where ever to let go of Coledale this would be the place to head.
While yarning with frank over a beer or 2 he stated that if the numbers where right he would get his mate to come down and they would bung on a bit of a concert for us as well as having a pizza night with us... worth considering aye??.

.
Later that evening we heard a rumbling sound outside the doors. when we went to investigate we found this old beast... an Armstrong Siddley belonging to a local that heard we where in town. Also got a visit from a bloke... name escapes me now. who has restored an old van..

.
We partied till late and left around 9 the next day for Moruya. Via Merimbula and Bermagui. for a nibble at the pie shop.
Called at the cheese shop in Bodalla and stocked up on some very spicey cheeses.
Arrived at Moruya after lunch. then done a tour of Cruzs shed and the old vans.. this girl has a problem . 4 vans in the shed plus The Globetrotter.... and an old 1940s dodge sedan delivery on its way soon.
Back to camp..







I ring home that evening to see how Trish is doing. With in 10 mins i am onto 000 and Trish is on her way to Hospital in the ambo.. ( again)
A sleepless night for me.

Up the next morning and Cruz elects to drop off the tour as she is keen to get things organised for the retrieval of the dodge... cant blame her really. It looks to be a good thing. So she takes the van over home and then arrives back to lead us over to forum member "Bugsys"place for morning tea...


After a bit of a shed tour. we bid goodbye to the hosts and Cruz and head over to Batemans bay for lunch then head for Sussex inlet.

We arrive around 2 ish. pay and enter. The park looks like an old fishos village . half of our sites are just mudholes.
The Kaybees recieve a disturbing call from home and elect to head straight off for Vic.
So with just 3 of the tourists still on the road we decide to skip sussex and head up to the next nights stop at Kiama. Kendalls Beach. I ring Trish. She is adiment i dont need to rush home. So i stay the night with Jennison and John/Pam . A great BBQ in the camp kitchen that night. a couple of beers then off to bed. Up early the next morning. a bloke turns up in a nice FE Ute..


.
Cool.
I get away early ahead of the other tourists and shoot up to Coledale to drop off the auction items. a Quick cuppa with Geoff and Jude ( Thanks Guys). Jennison and John and Pam arrive just i am leaving for home.
Left Coledale at 10.00am . Home 1.15pm. At the Hospital by 2.00pm.

So.. thats about it from me. a great tour . Great parks .. and the weather was kind to us.
Bit of a downer about the park at Sussex being so shabby .
Lotsa good memorys of being on the road touring with great mates. Just like to thank Jenno .. john and pam .. Cruz and the Kaybees for thier great company and thier consoling words that stopped me from roaring off up the highway from Moruya in the middle of the night to see Trish.

She is being well cared for at the hospital.. i am off to see her again now,'
Cheers all.
Reddo.

[kaybee]

G'day all, a big thanks to Reddo for another great tour with a beaut bunch of people......as he mentioned we had to cut and run part way thru , had a phone call from home to say that Kylie had interrupted a couple of blokes trying to break into our garage.....luckily they did a runner and there was no aggro , left empty handed and the only damage was a tweaked side door. We'd just booked in at Sussex Inlet c/v park when the call came thru , put a bit of a dampener on things and we figured it'd be prudent to head for home post haste.....this was around 3 pm and we ended up back at Gundagai by 8.30.....woulda been quicker but someone put Canberra in the way and that sorta trips you up a bit..... ;D.....rolled out of bed earlyish next morning and made it back to Croydon by about 11am.

Still had a good time and the high speed run back was a bit of a hoot too ;D....what I would suggest to everyone on here though....DON'T make posts telling the world at large that you're off to a particular event....anyone can read it and it's not too hard to figure out who folks are or where they live , and there are a number of folks out there who don't always have your best interests at heart......this is the second time something like this has happened when we've been out with the van , so it's worth thinking about being a little discreet about publicly advertising your movements.....cheers for now, Col.

[humpyboy]

Hi reddo, Frankie sure does like his Holdens, when they had him on "This is your life" some years back down here my mate took his FJ sedan to the studio so it could be parked at the back of the set for the show and he duly signed the glove box lid in it also, and Kaybee, I think you may be on to something there with posting all our coming and goings here on the forum, perhaps we could have a members only section which is password protected? just a thought

[Deleted]

and Kaybee, I think you may be on to something there with posting all our coming and goings here on the forum, perhaps we could have a members only section which is password protected? just a thought

I have a better idea..
Shoot first .. ask questions later.
But yeah... its a bloody shame that we cant leave home without worrying about some lowlife coming in your yard and attempting/ succeeding in taking something that isnt theirs.

Not saying these people found out that the Kaybees would be away via the internet , But its just another down side to social networking on computers. Ya just dont know who is reading your posts .

Bloody thilth of the earth.
Regards

Reddo

[vantoura]

Hi Col and Reddo.
I had a problem a couple of years ago with a "member" of this forum posting messages about who was going away on runs ets.
There is some info that people just dont need to know.

Hope they havnt done too much damage to your place Col.

Cheers.

[kaybee]

Oct 14, 2011 21:08:24 GMT 10 vantoura said:

Hope they havnt done too much damage to your place Col.

Cheers.

Hiya Richard , no.....no big deal at all...even got a complimentary crowbar out of it . Bit of a mess from MrPlods fingerprint powder, but a squirt with some detergent should shift that lot.....it's a good wake up call though , so there's some more deadbolts and bars going in and a monitored security system as well......all good and thanks for your concern mate, see ya....

[Don Ricardo]

G'day Reddo,

Thanks for another great "travelogue" from the 2011 East Coast Tour. A great selection of photos - vans, tow vehicles, people, a few laugh-out-loud pics, and lots more vans - as you usually post for those of us that can't enjoy the fun.

Sorry to hear that Trish is in hospital again, though. Trust that she improves quickly and is sent home to keep an eye on you again.

Don Ricardo

[noblesgarage]

;D Yoh Reddo and gang nice photos and looks like you'se had a good time on the tour. Frankie J well I never Shoulder talked him into joining the crew " Cobber could lend him his Fy and he'd blend right in" Only joking

Well folks gotta go its "Spring Tour Time" for this little bloke ;D ;D so its of to Boddington for me

"Having fun in the sixty one" Brian.

[1954homemade]

Hi All,

Well it sounds like an eventful East Cost Tour.

Some of the photos bought back great memories of my first tour with the Vin Vant crown - we had alot of laughs.

Kris and Col, Glad to hear that all is ok at your place, shame you had to head off home early.

Reddo, I hope everything works out ok for Trish.

All the best
Di

[Daggsey]

Onya Reddo for sharing those pics with us all.............brings back memories of Lady Madonna's Tour in 2008 when we were travelling on the South Coast and first met Cruz and the Kingys in Moruya.........even though it was only 3 years ago, it is another chapter for us in this vintage van journey where we have a made a lot of friends through this quirky hobby, and where we can feel real pain, sympathy (call it what you will) for Trish, for the Kaybees, for Rhoem, for JBJ etc despite having the initial connection through the electronic medium of the internet..............their is nothing like reality

Daggsey

[Deleted]

Well.. thats another tour out of the way....

ATTENTION ALL WANNABEE...2012 East coast tourists.
..
Next years tour will be heading north... Starting again at .....
The white albatross van park on the saturday... and... heading north on sunday to... i dunno where.

Then up to the border...for a night of 2.. then west to Warwick or thereabouts .. then south down the New England to Tamworth ... or maybe Nundle for a night( wednesday) again..
On to Lake Macquarie ( Blacksmiths van park).. or Newcastle ( stockton van park)...
Head for Coledale thurs or Friday morning.

Now, now .. settle down.. Nothin is set in concrete .... parks and destinations / towns might change ... but we are definitley heading north .. and north .,.. and north... .. then a little bit west.. then a whole lot south.

Regards
Reddo

[Roehm3108]

Hiya Guys and gals

Looks like you all had another great Tour! Just a shame that kb had to calls his run off early, which I'm sorry to read.

As someone who worked in insurance well before the days of social networking, can I make another comment about advertising your absence for the low-life of the world to take advantage of. In those days, another invitation for a potential burglary hit was the absence of a visible caravan. I know that there are many people who only store their vans in a carport at the front of a property, and when they are gone, it was another sign that the owners were likely to be away. So the better you can actually have your van out of sight, the better the chances are of NOT advertsing you are away.

Ray