Shellharbour 2016

[Richard]

Whats this, a late afternoon wash? Could we be going away?

[reddo]

Oddely enough i went away last weekend as well.... except i didnt wash anything but my soxs and undies before i left.
Arrived at Shellharbour around 11.. ish on Thursday and took up residence on sacred site number 44N,
4 rows back from the ocean front sites... and.. for a very good reason.
A light Nor easter slowly turned into a 50 knot blow not long after i got set up... So... i was more than happy to be 4 rows back and protectedfrom the brunt of the blow by all the fobbergross.. wood rot and bauxite in front of me...
Friday morning presented fine and sunny... to start out with !!
So i shot out and got some happy snaps before the weather turned to poop as predicted.


The place can be picture perfect when it wants to be..































Phillmac suggest a bit of a cruise on saturday night over a few beers .. so...
We took a drive out to Jamberoo on sunday to a car show..
This was my pick of the day.




More shortly.....
Reddo

[reddo]

See.. less than 30 seconds later and i am back..
Here a few more shots from Jamberoo...





oooo dear.. i can just see our posty headin down the street on this little number..











After we left the car show we headed up Jamberoo MT road to a neat lookout just a few k short of Robertson...
Magnificent view


Then on to Robertson Pie shop for lunch and on into town for a look around the antique shop.
Headed back down the mountain via Macqaurie pass...
The whole time cursing i wasnt riding the Norton.. what a playground for bikes.. I bet the ambos scrape at least 1 bike and rider a weekend up of these riding meccas

Back to camp in time for happy 5 hours... howling sou wester had us huddled in my annexe . occassionally the sun would come out and the wind would drop .. so we would spread out into the sun... only to be driven back in by the cold winds once the sun went behind the clouds.. this scenario was repeated hundreds of times around the vans over the weekend.

Blowy and occassionaly rainy conditions did not dampen the happy vanners enthusiasm. was great to get down on the rocks for a fish on Friday ( 4 fish) and saturday ( 1 fish).
immensley enjoyed another hilarious Thursday and friday evening in the "annexe of ill repute" which is attached to Geoff and Judes "Ritz"... The REAL one...

37 made the trip over to Oak Flats Bowlo for dinner on saturday night... nice meal .

Despite the blowy conditions all weekend and the heavy downpour friday night i think everyone enjoyed the weekend. Was good catching up with the regulars and nice meeting some of the "1st timers".
I would also like to thank the park managers for bunging on the saturday lunch sausage sizzle for the vintage vanners.

But i suppose the biggest thanks goes to Jude for her tireless efforts working with the managers and organising all of us onto our sites .. Much appreciate Jude.


Hell... My freshly finished van even passed the slot head screw inspection by the foundation member and president of the S.H.S society... the weekend was THAT good

I left about 8.30am on Monday.. all was sweet until around Narellan rd when i noticed a highway patrol car sitting just off my vans right tail light.. i waited for the inevitable... and it happened ... on came the lights and sirens ... ... GULP.. what have i done now.

I rolled to a stop and started scrounging for my license.. i turned back to the drivers side window to find the officer crouched down beside the door ready for a chat..
He went on to yarn to me about seeing me a fortnight ago heading south ( i went to Melbourne in the p[anno with box traler on behind and bought 2 old pommy bikes) ...but he couldnt catch me.. ( GULP AGAIN).. apparently he was about to set sail after me for a chat but had to call it off as he picked up on speeding car heading the other way.
He has 2 EHs .. 1 is powered by a 5 litre fuel injected V8 ... other is a stock sedan... a leg in both camps!!
Turns out he knows the Tickos and was in the Illawarra car club for a while. Man wasnt i relieved when he said goodbye and wished me a safe run home... if only all my previous encounters with the law where that jovial... i would be a whole lot happier ... and richer.

Got home a bit after lunchtime... unpacked and gave the car and van a good wash to get 5 days of salt air and spray off them before putting them to bed.

Had a ball... thanks to everyone for the great company.. you vintage vanners sure are a different breed... and i mean that in the nicest way.

Reddo

[Strugglebrook]

Thanks Mr Reddo, great pictures.
That Honda Postie Chopper sure looks purdy.

[reddo]

That Honda Postie Chopper sure looks purdy.

Good Grief !!!!

Why does the word .."Circus" come to mind..
Aaahh well ... at least he managed to get a ride in on those bewt roads ..
Or.. did it arrive like most show bikes ......on a yoot ??( dont give me that .."Ïts not british Reddo" crap either )

Gunna have to get a bigger classic paneltruck or a pickup truck towcar before next years V V Gathering...need space to load a bike on ..
Maybe offer the blue bike owner a Hillclimb time trial up to the Pie shop.. .

Site 44N already booked for next year... Thanks Jude.


Reddo
Why do i get the feeling this will draw return fire ....????....

Reddo

[Strugglebrook]

That is why they call Harley`s cattle dogs, cause at the end of the day they like a ride in the back of the Yoot. An old Pommy bike Hill Climb ?? Now that would be interesting. My bags going first as the poor buggers down the back would have to deal with all the oil on the track.

[reddo]

Thank you listeners..
We will now return you to our normal transmission on channel 2 V V AM Radio...

GR

[griffin]

Just to second Reddo's thanks to Geoff and Jude for organising the weekend, and the annual wind and water intrusion test for the vans. I think everyone passed again this year, no water ingress although our light annex failed. A small tear escalated into a major event by the time I had it up! Determined I wasn't going to take it down I succumbed after a couple of hours figuring that me and the neighbours might never get to sleep it I left it flap.

The nice day while we were there was Friday and we went to Berry, the by pass roadworks going great guns, some of the shop owners reckon parts of it will open ahead of the 2018 schedule. Hopefully we can check it out next year. There were a few 'caravan' items to be had around the shops, Christmas tree decoration, a couple of caravan theme jig-saw puzzles and a couple of caravan tea pots. All a bit $$$ary though!

Nice to see the results of Reddo's labour on the Supalite, a great credit. I thought someone was running a book on how long before he moved it on and I forgot to get some $ on that too!

Strugglebrook's Hunter Minor was nice to see in the flesh too and the Jennison inspired pop top, more great workmanship.

Aquamum gets my vote for the most inventive modification for the weekend, adopting a new method of supporting the back of the van instead of fiddling the wind down supports.

And young Joshua Potter is shooting up, off to big school next year, soon be looking for a spare van for a teenager's retreat.

George

[reddo]

I am currently looking at installing a similar rear jacking set up on the Supalite.
Having difficulty locating a sugar bag...??
Will a chaff bag surfice ??

Ok OK I apologise Aquamum,

Silent auction on my van did not reach reserve... So it stays in my possession.. It is heading to Hat Head this weekend behind commodore ute with Norton onboard for M/C Rally.
Have packed a 44 gall drum of Midgey repellant.

Reddo

[Richard]

Have packed a 44 gall drum of Midgey repellant.

What for Reddo. Is Phil going with you. Sorry Phil.