Scooter News National Scooter Rally 2008 After five days on the road and 1700kms, mostly ridden solo, I was pleased that my traveling companions and I had finally reached Port Macquarie on the northern NSW coast.
Sharon Heritage We looked at my map, which was comically disintegrating in my hands as the torrential rain came down, and worked out where the Sundowner Breakwall holiday park, our base for the weekend, actually was. Port Macquarie had proved to be a bigger and more commercialised town that I expected, and the park was just off the central shopping area.
After checking in, Dave and Carrie and myself wandered into town for a late lunch. By late afternoon more rally attendees had turned up, and the first event of the rally was to meet and greet at the Town Green pub. Many drinks were consumed there, and I believe at establishments elsewhere in the town. I got to meet some people who I had previously only known as posters on the various scooter forums I'm on. Very interesting...
The next day, myself and others in the organising committee set about collecting money and handing out T shirts, patches and meal vouchers. A snip at $25! Andy took the lead, being very organised and even handing out receipts until we ran out. We had approximately 60 registrations, including pillions too. This year there were more women than expected, and we ran out of the smaller size T shirts early, just having "extra fat bastard" sizes left at the end.
Once that was over, we went for a ride out, organised by Janine. Despite the rally itinerary stating "ensure you have a full tank" etc. we still needed to stop at a petrol station for those less organised riders. And then it was on to the top of North Brother Mountain lookout, via the coast road and the amusingly named town of Dunbogan. It was a great photo opportunity, with a magnificent view from the lookout. We even managed to get photos of the lot of us, thanks to Bill Guthrie who climbed on top of a shelter and took the pics with everyone's cameras in turn. On way down, I managed to snap a few pics of people enjoying the windy road. A late lunch was taken in Laurieton, but I zipped back to the park to get ready for the Show and Shine, my main responsibility this year. The results are below:
best auto: TIU-63, Dave White's Vespa GTS, Newcastle
manual geared: SKA-78 Paul Cain's Lambretta, Brisbane
Vespa pre 77: PR-09 Sandy Symonides, Sydney
Vespa post 77: PX-97 Phil Ericsson's PX200, Sydney
Lammy series 3: SKA-78
Lammy non series 3: 1BE-941, Renato De' Pannone's series 1, Perth
other marque: not awarded, although the trailer parked nearby was highly commended
best mod: MOD-01 Sharon Heritage's PX200, Hobart
best in show: SKA-78
custom: Sandy's Vespa with nitrous!
piston broke: Phil Ericsson's PX, exhaust broken on way but also welded up en-route
furthest travelled: Sharon Heritage, five days riding
Saturday night was the "do" upstairs at the Town Green. We flashed our black and white chequered wristbands at Larry, the doorkeeper for the night, and listened to a good range of sounds courtesy of Stuart, who also provided the equipment. Dinner was served, the trophies were awarded, and prizes, courtesy of our wonderful sponsors, were handed out. Jimmy the Hand was the floor entertainment early, impressing everyone with his dance featuring a chair on each foot. You had to be there... I wonder if anyone has put footage up on YouTube? Later in the evening, there were some terribly drunk scooterists, business as usual then! Stuart kept the floor mostly packed until our cut-off time of midnight (due to the pub being unable to get an extended licence)... he did try to keep going as the lights went up, but then the bar staff turned off the sound equipment's electricity supply. People dispersed after this, but there were other places to go. Port Macquarie is a happenin' town it seems!
The next day, many people set off for home. I watched Siobhan and others repairing Obie's Lammy, and few people were wandering about, or sitting mainly, with sore heads. About lunchtime, a small group of us went off for another rideout. We attempted to visit a winery but the dirt road was not very pleasant for small wheeled shopping scooters, so we went to Timbertown, at the nearby town of Wauchope instead. The park is a recreation of a 1880's pioneer town, and the restaurant there does very nice chips!
In the evening we had the free barbecue provided by the park, but it was poorly attended as many people had already left, and some Brisbanites who had stayed had taken so long to get their lunchtime barbecue cooked that they'd only just eaten! Later we all sat around and talked and drank, as you do. I didn't stay too late as the next day I had another five days riding to get home...
Thanks to all our sponsors, and thanks to the organisers. Next year's rally will be the Australia Day weekend again, but this time it will be held at Bicheno, Tasmania!
Stay tuned to ScooterSales.com.au for all your information on the up-coming Australian National Scooter Rally 2009.
published 12/03/2008 |