National Meet Update, 6 Sept 2021

Dear Model A Owners,

It has been a very interesting time here in NSW for the past two months. We are all wondering where we are headed with this new Delta version of COVID, and realise it is going to create some huge changes to our daily lives, to allow us to move on in the future. I congratulate those states that are lucky enough at this time not to have it, but like the flu, I think unfortunately it is only a matter of time.

As a result of this uncertainty the 2022 National Meet Committee has decided to hold sending out the official Goulburn National Meet Registration until we fully understand where Australia is headed re COVID. The committee right up until this recent outbreak had been busy organising the event, and we are extremely happy with all the progress we have made to date. In fact this lock down has not really interrupted our planning.

We are still receiving Early Bird bookings, but they are now just a trickle as you would expect. Just to remind everyone:

• Our venue is all locked in The Grace-Millsom Function Centre. At the venue there will be meals available for lunch and dinner daily on demand, which could be sit down or take away. There is also be a cappuccino machine operating, for those that wish to purchase a coffee, as well as a tea and coffee station.
• The camp sites around the rally HQ have been booked pretty solid at this time, well done.
• We have a wonderful era fashion event, put on by the Cavalcade of History & Fashion on the first Monday morning with a Devonshire Tea in the Rally HQ – http://www.thecavalcade.org/
• There will be a number of interesting Tech Talks, one on the Monday morning and another later in the week.
• The Historic Goulburn Waterworks will open just for us on the Tuesday morning, and we are hoping they will fire up the steam driven pump, plus there will be some fantastic photo opportunities, particularly for anyone with a drone of all the Model A’s parked around the pump house. https://www.goulburnwaterworks.com.au/
• It is tulip time of year, and there is a visit to a Tulip Top Gardens in your Model A. https://www.tuliptopgardens.com.au/
• The response to the trip the Canberra to the War Memorial seems to have piqued a lot of people’s interest, so that based on bookings will be an all day event on the Wednesday.
• We also have a number of shorter 2 hour historic bus tours organised around Goulburn
• Our major sponsor is the NSW National Trust, and they have a national trust farm near Goulburn called Riversdale, and we have schedule a number of visit times for you there. https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/riversdale/
• Don’t forget just down the road from the rally HQ is the Goulburn Rail Heritage Centre – https://www.roundhouse.org.au/
• Another place of interest is the Rocky Hill War Memorial & Museum. – https://www.goulburn.nsw.gov.au/Facilities-Recreation/Museums/Rocky-Hill-War-Memorial-and-Museum
• We have plenty of local runs to discover the beauty of the district and also where you can stop for lunch.
• Monday night will be the “Welcome Cocktail Party” and Friday night our “Gala Dinner”, both at the Rally HQ in the Veolia Arena.

So I know the event will be going ahead, but we may have to put some special controls in place. We only hope that the politics of COVID are finished by then, and all states have agreed on a common sensible plan to let us all to get back together.

Be assured once we know what all the new rules are, we will send out immediately our official booking application.

Thanks for your understanding, I trust everyone in COVID affected states are OK, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2022

Regards from the 2022 Model A Ford 27th National Meet Committee

Rob Taylor
Rally Secretary
2022 Model A Ford 27th National Rally
Hosted by the NSW Model A Ford Club
PO Box 382
GORDON NSW 2072
Ph: 0434 314 198

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Winter Getaway Day 12 (and last)

We started the day with an extremely short drive through the back streets of Narrogin to the home of fellow club members, Kerry & Lyn McPharlin.

While the blokes admired Kerry’s magnificent new beast (his just restored and licensed Model AA truck) (and his shed), the ladies admired Lyn’s handiwork with the needle.

After a lovely morning tea at the McPharlins, we were off to Pingelly. We had some time to kill, so spent half an hour in the main street chatting to all the locals who came to admire our cars.

We had lunch at the fantastic new Pingelly Arts & Recreation Centre. What a facility!! Indoor sports, bowling green, tennis courts, reticulated football oval (that recently hosted a WAFL game), playground and BBQs, and a big hall with kitchen and bar. (Let’s hope the shire can afford to maintain it!).

From Pingelly, it was back to Perth via Brookton like thirsty horses headed for water. There were some minor delays some roadworks and for a second flat on the Sartori’s pesky left rear tyre. Those left in the convoy gathered at Karragullen and said their goodbyes before heading in various directions to their homes.

Our car travelled 1,051 miles (the odometer is in miles – 1,681km) and didn’t miss a beat. Great work old girl. I’ve come home pledging to improve the lighting and brakes, buy a fancy radiator cap and get the hood re-lined.

The weather gods really looked after us. The forecast a few days before we left was dreadfull, but while there was some rain overnight, and a bit while we were driving, it never rained to spoil a visit/stop or to mess with roadside repairs.

It was a great trip and enjoyed by all – looking forward to the next one (whenever that may be).

 

PS. Let me know if you read this so I can tell if I’ve wasted my time or not 🙂

Even the Narrogin police wanted to stop for a chat.

Kerry’s Model AA truck

Lyn’s handicrafts under examination.

Many hands got the tyre changed quickly.

the cars saying goodbye to each other in Karragullen

today’s travels

the total trip

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Winter Getaway Day 11

We started our day with fellow traveller and club member Wayne Millman showing us around Collie (his home town). We got a guided tour of the new murals around the town and a look at the huge new DFES training and workshop facilities being constructed.

The Collie Veteran Car Club members (4 couples of which have been travelling with us) then hosted us to a lovely morning tea at their clubrooms in town.

Then the day’s (short) travels began with the drive to Williams via Darkan. Just east of Collie, we got glimpses of the huge coal mines. They look like sand pits with grey streaks.

After lunch at the Williams Woolshed, it was a short drive across to Narrogin – our last night’s stop on this trip.

the mural on the RSL Clubrooms depicting local Collie people who fought in the various conflicts

Collie town mural

Collie town mural

Collie town mural

Collie town mural

Collie town mural

Collie Veteran Car Club clubrooms with their mural of the first car in Collie to be put on a concessional license.

a glimpse out of the window of one of the coal mines

Williams street sculpture

today’s travels

the trip so far

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Winter Getaway Day 10

A long day’s drive today from Albany to Collie – 320km, nearly 9 hours start-to-finish, and 5 1/4 hours driving – and driving a Model A isn’t all that relaxing!

First stop was the lookout at the Mt Barker TV tower. The installation of this tower marked a significant change to the lifestyle of us Albany residents at the time – TV came to Albany! And yet Anne and I must have driven through Mt Barker hundreds of times since then – but we had never been up that hill.

Coming back down the from the lookout led to a compulsory stop at the Mt Barker bakery – yet another mouth-watering country bakery we have patronised on this trip (we are not looking forward to the bathroom scales when we get home).

Next stop was Boyup Brook for lunch and then out to Harvey Dickson’s Country Music World just out of town. This really is a fascinating place – even for us who aren’t into country music. Harvey has built this fantastic venue, jam-packed with historical, every-day items. He spins a great yarn too.

We got into Collie around 5pm and headed almost straight-off to a Chinese restaurant – which was a refreshing change to the pub food of the last week.

Tomorrow, Narrogin.

At Middleton Beach at the start of the day

heading to Albany under threatening skies (that never produced much rain – as has been our charmed luck on this trip)

autumn trees on Middleton Beach Road heading into Albany town

Albany’s famous Dog Rock

the view from the Mt Barker TV tower lookout

the TV tower

Mt Barker Bakery

the Mt Barker chicken

olive trees at Frankland

Boyup Brook

Sandakan Memorial at Boyup Brook

Harvey Dickson’s Country Music World (Boyup Brook)

the record room at Harvey Dickson’s Country Music World

the rodeo ground at Harvey Dickson’s Country Music World

today’s travels

the trip so far

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Winter Getaway Day 8

A short-ish drive today from Denmark to Albany, with just a couple of stops on the way.

We did a little detour right at the start to do a drive-by Marilynn’s dad’s house in Denmark.

Then we were off to see the privately-owned museum “Recollections of War” near Youngs Siding. It is an amazing, eclectic collection of war memorabilia that is ever-growing (courtesy of donations and eBay!).

The next stop was over a bit of corrugated gravel to the Shelley Beach Lookout to take-in the (fresh) views of the Great Southern Ocean.

After that, it was off to Albany for an early afternoon and another free day tomorrow.

a bit of traffic congestion in the cul-de-sac visiting Marilynn’s father in Denmark (with the usual paparazzi)

part of the Recollections of War collection

Recollections of War

part of the Recollections of War – an absolutely amazing collection of hand-crafted, plaster of paris figurines done by a local bloke. They are all meticulously hand painted, and accessorised with equipment, sashes, hats, sporrans etc in fabrics etc in amazing detail.

Recollections of War

Shelley Beach Lookout

Shelley Beach road

Today’s travels

the trip so far

 

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Winter Getaway Day 7

Today was a drive from Manjimup to Denmark. It turned-out to be one of those days you can expect when you are touring with a group of 90+ year-old cars.

Before we even got going, Wes had a cracked distributor cap and couldn’t get his car to get out of bed in the morning.

First stop was at the Diamond Tree just out of Manjimup where one of our touring party (Hans) worked for a brief period as a fire spotter (before he moved on to the Gloucester Tree for several seasons). The Gloucester Tree in Pemberton was our next stop, followed by lunch in Pemberton.

Moving swiftly on, we passed through Northcliffe and headed east to Walpole. Not long out of Northcliffe, Bob & Marilynn Horgan’s car (Florence) started to misbehave. At various roadside stops (followed by very brief periods of travel), the following items were replaced: condensor, carburettor, coil, HT lead and the complete distributor. Finally the problem was diagnosed as a partially blocked fuel line from the tank (the quickest of all to fix). Florence then took off like a startled horse and no-one could keep-up!

Very thankfully, our charmed luck with the weather kept holding-out, and all these repairs did not have to be done in the pouring rain.

At Walpole, an itinerary change was called for, and some cars headed straight to Denmark, while others just lopped the tree-top walk from the schedule, and covered the rest of the plan and finally arrived in Denmark on dim headlights at about 5:30.

The day was completed with a lovely meal at the Denmark Tavern celebrating the 80th birthday of one of the most popular members of the club – Alan Jeffree.

cars amongst the Karri

ooo-yuck – a cattle crossing (the cars all need a wash now!)

an open bonnet attracts blokes like flies to a dead kangaroo

the twins

never a truer word was displayed by a road sign

finally in Walpole

heading to the Giant Tingle

the Giant Tingle

and again (- it is still very much alive)

Greens Pool

Greens Pool

Greens Pool

today’s travels

the trip so far

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Winter Getaway Day 5

Day 5 Winter Getaway: After a mishap with the opening hours of the chocolate shop that was to be our first stop of the day, it was off to Cowaramup for morning tea. We then cruised through the newly renovated main street of Margaret River (geez, I hope all the local businesses think the result was worth the pain they went through – but we couldn’t see it).

Lunch was in Nannup, where long-term club member and Nannup resident Matthew White turned-up in his newly-licensed Phaeton.

After lunch was the highlight of the day – the visit to Kevin Bird’s “big wooden clock”. I had heard a lot about this clock, and had rave reviews from everyone who had been to see it – and it didn’t disappoint. Kevin ran through a history of clocks, and explained how this huge one worked, and it was fascinating. He is obviously an extremely skilled craftsman.

On the way to our next stop at Donnelly River, Neville “Wheels” Swindell had a bit of a problem with his (wheel) nuts, but no disaster.

We arrived at the motel in Manjimup a bit after 5pm, having left Busselton at 8 this morning. We were on the move for 4 1/2 hours of that time to cover 230kms.

Tomorrow is a free day to explore Manjimup and surrounds.

Cars vainly waiting for the chocolate shop to open

pity the poor motorist trying to overtake this lot! (in our defense, we were being held-up by an even slower vehicle at this point – a tractor)

Cowaramup

extreme off-roading

our more normally spaced convoy

outside the Nannup Hotel

at the farm where the “big wooden clock” is

Kevin telling his clock story

the clock

Donnelly River

today’s travels

the trip so far

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Winter Getaway Day 3

Today we travelled from Bunbury to Busselton – the very long way.

First stop was the Dardanup Heritage Park – wow! What a place! One and a half hours does not at all do it justice – at least half a day is needed to see the fantastic collection of “old stuff” of all varieties – tractors, large machines, old printing press, household stuff, radios, telephones, working saw mill, rebuilt timber town village – and the list goes on and on. The Bunbury RSL also have their extensive collection of memorabilia (including a Leopard tank) in the park in the relocated old Bunbury drill hall.

Next was a private police memorabilia collection established by a retired WA policeman. It started with him saving his old hat badge when the badges changed after he’d been in the force a year – and has snowballed out of control since! He has hats, uniforms and badges from police forces all around the world.

After lunch in Donnybrook, it was off to Busselton via the Kirup jumble sale.

Who knew it took 8 hours and 150km to get from Bunbury to Busselton? 😀 – another great drive and very interesting day.

the cars outside the Dardanup Heritage Park

A beautifully restored steam traction engine (everything is beautifully presented)

This, like much of the machinery in the heritage park, is in working order

RSL collection at the Dardanup Heritage Park.

The Leopard tank gifted to the Bunbury RSL.

replica timber town at the Dardanup Heritage Park

On the road

Larry Morgan and his dog outside his police memorabilia collection

Police memorabilia collection

Autumn trees on Larry’s 10 acres

How many blokes does it need to replace 1 lost bolt in a luggage rack ??

Todays “long road to Busselton”

The trip so far

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Winter Getaway Day 1

Nine Model A’s (and a camper bus) gathered bright and early in Armadale. From the weather forecasts earlier in the week, we were all prepared for atrocious weather – umbrellas, raincoats etc, but the weather was fantastic – a truly glorious day.

Our tour organisers are doing the WA travelling public a great favour by keeping us off the main highways as much as possible (we were only on S/W Hwy for a few kms in total). We had a very scenic route through farmlands and forest. First stop was Pinjarra for morning tea, then a loop through Yarloop.

We refuelled in Harvey on our way to Harvey Dam for lunch and then on to Wellington Dam. Wow, the mural on the dam wall really is special – especially when seen from the bottom – really spectacular.

Next we popped-in to Gnomesville and then it was onwards into Bunbury. We’re here for two nights and tomorrow is a “free day” – we’ll see what that brings.

Cars gathering at Pioneer Village at Armadale ready to start the trip

Unique way of marking a house destroyed by the big bush fire

Clogging the bowsers in Harvey (you don’t go far with a 40 litre fuel tank at 20 litres/100km – but the maths is easy!)

Wellington Dam

The ceiling and a column at the Wellington Dam viewing platform.

Wellington Dam

Wellington Dam

Things have got a bit risque at Gnomesville!

Today’s travels

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