We had read in last year’s Traction about the wonderful Whyalla weekend and so we decided to give it a go. First essential was obviously to pack the fly nets and all the other gear. The Youngones were the first to arrive having stayed at Mambray Creek on Thursday night
About
35kms out of Whyalla we heard the dulcet tones of the Pearces and Spot coming
over the airwaves on the other side of the gulf. Spot was “starting to stop”
because he had a flat tyre on the van. This was caused by the rim
splitting. Eventually they arrived at the show grounds to set up camp. Gary
and Ruth Hallam arrived later with their 3 extremely good Grandchildren. What a
pleasure they were to have on the trip. Much later Ellen McGuinness arrived.
We then went down to the big tent and booked ourselves in for a few tagalongs.
Ellen and the Youngs went on a trip out to Camel Hill while
the others were busy in the city. Rod was our TL and he did a great job with
description of the area and keeping the convoy close together. At one point
when we were waiting for
others to catch up Ellen got out of her car and found a wheel nut on the
ground. Broadcast it over the air and it happened to belong to the car just
ahead of her. The car ahead thought they had brake problems but it was the
front wheel complaining because it only had 3 nuts left and these were loose.
That was a lucky escape for them. Minutes later ORVC came to the rescue again.
A branch over the track and Greg was out there in a flash with his bow saw to
remove the obstacle. After an interesting trip we were back at camp and Bev and
Gerry were set up ready for the afternoon trip.
We all tagged along on the Myola trip which was out in the same area as the morning trip. Rod and Maureen led us again and we had a most enjoyable afternoon with no dramas. The scenery was great.
No-one
felt like cooking so we headed out of camp for a counter meal. Placed our
orders and were most impressed with the salad and veggie bar. We waited with
great expectation for our delicious meal and we waited and we waited and
finally, after many people who had ordered after us were served, we decided to
ask if we were ever going to be fed. Lucky us, we were next. Meals came out
slowly and I was last to be served. Out comes the waitress to inform me that
the Barra had got away and I could have anything on the menu for free. Only
problem was that by this stage the hunger pangs had passed and I certainly
didn’t want to wait again. I shared some of Jan’s Barra. The manager was
called to explain what happened. Next year we will go somewhere else as this
happened last year as well.
Sunday morning we went with Hayden and Mary Jo for a trip out
to Tregalano, a private property which may be taken over by the Defence Force.
One of the highlights was waiting for a train to pass. The scenery was again
pretty as we ended up driving on top of one of the large hills. Mopoke
complained that he had a flat tyre so Gerry was soon out tending to it while the
rest of us could only look over the gully and wish that we could be there to
assist him. Down a steep gully and up the other side, well nearly up. Merv
decided it was all too much and spat the dummy. Over the airwaves Dean was
getting advice like “are you in 4WD?” and “are the hubs locked in?” Well they
are always locked in so that shouldn’t be the problem. However one had
miraculously come out. Back in and Merv
ascended the hill
easily. Stopped on top of the hill for lunch with a beautiful view and a little
hissing sound. Was it a snake or was it Mopoke letting off steam? Yes another
tyre problem. Two tyres in 10 minutes driving. Apart from getting
geographically misplaced the rest of the trip was uneventful except for an
encounter with a little mud which was successfully negotiated by all and
appreciated by the local car wash.
That evening was the presentation of awards and prizes. Gerry got one for his tyre problems and received a tyre repair kit and Ellen received a T shirt for her nut finding effort. Gary and Dean also got prizes.
In the morning the Hallams left early others went into town
and Ellen and the
Youngs went to Point Lowly lighthouse on yet another trip with very pretty
scenery. Dean and Jan left after lunch and the rest of us went up Mt Laura and
then out to Wild Dog Hill. We found some other challenging hills.
Next day Ellen left us and then Spot, Paays and Youngs headed for Quorn for a few days R and R. Percy decided to have a few hot flushes and at this stage Uncle Arthur is continuing to get it diagnosed. He has ruled out hormonal disturbances but that is all.
The Whyalla Club is to be congratulated on putting on such a good weekend. They were extremely helpful in sourcing tyres and rims for our troubled vehicles. The trip leaders kept the convoys together and gave good commentaries and were able to answer our questions. Mark it on the calendar for next year.
Leonie Young
