Toranafest
2011

 

Page 2

CTC - Toranafest 2011

The annual pilgrimage to Newcastle  has been done and dusted for another year.  This event just keeps getting bigger and better year after year.  A special thanks must go to the committee and members of the Hunter Valley Torana Club and the staff at Motofarm Motel, Eliza in particular, for the excellent work they all did to get this thing off the ground again!

This year was going to be our clubs biggest attendance and we anticipated 25 cars making the journey to Newcastle for the Sunday show.

This year we decided to all depart from the Eagle Hawk petrol station at 8.00am on the Friday morning.  As it turned out we all got there pretty much on time and left at just after 8.00am.  The biggest problem was going to be keeping 20 cars together for 450kms.  As it turned out that didn't happen.  This year there were several cars being towed up on car trailers as they weren't quite finished or too new to drive the long distance without knowing if they were up to the task.  Unfortunately one car didn't make it all the way up.  Phil thought he got lucky when he was offered a drive up in Mick's little white LJ GTR.  When he arrived in it it was smoking a bit.  Around Goulburn it decided to give up the ghost.  Phil was lucky enough to get the car to Goulbourn to King Loz's brother's place where it was left for the weekend.  Phil then jumped into Joe's LH for the reminder of the trip up.  Apart from that, t he drive up the highway was pretty straight forward and even the dreaded Pennant Hills Road seemed to go well.  The tricky bit was getting to the motel a different way than in previous years.  As it turned out the instructions we had were not aimed at those staying at the motel, just new comers coming into the venue on show day.  This inadvertently sent the majority of us in the wrong direction to the motel and we ended up with a very scenic tour of Newcastle...Oh well, we all got there in the end J

Once we were all there it was time for the clan to sort their rooms out and have that well deserved beer or bourbon.  The only thing on everyone's mind was to relax and suck up the atmosphere for the next few hours.  The afternoon flew by and before we knew it we were  starting to get organised for dinner.  As usual the girls were fantastic in arranging the food to feed the tribe.  Without their diligence the boys would probably have had too many meat pies for dinner J and no real sustenance,  thanks again ladies your efforts are always greatly appreciated.

As the night kicked on Toranas' arrived from all over Australia.  The motel was filling up steadily and the socialising between Torry owners began.  It was a great start to the weekend already.

Come Saturday morning there were a few sore heads about and we cranked the BBQ up for a Bacon and Egg start to the day.  After breaky it was time to clean the cars and sort out any inherent problems that may of occurred on the trip up.  A few of us did some running repairs on  Mick's little red GTR.  Apart from that there weren't too many casualties to worry about. 

The day was fairly relaxing and soon kicked on into the night where the celebrations were focussed around the BBQ dinner and guest speeches.  As always this part of the weekend was a highlight for the majority of people who travelled up.  It was good to see Bev and James Brock continue their support for all things Brock, in particular Toranafest.  As well the on-going support from several of the period drivers, race managers and mechanics.   Without them the memories just fade so a big thank you to them for making the effort to support such a great event.

As is the norm for this event and the time of year, the footy finals were on and several of us had teams participating.  It wasn't a good weekend for me to see all my teams eliminated and a poor effort from the Wallabies' to boot!  Oh well, the rivalry was good fun, thanks to Steve for the beer shower after his Broncos fluked a win over my Dragons!!!!

Sunday morning arrived before we knew and it was time to get up early and get the cars to the venue to set up for the day.  We arrived at about 7.50 to set up.  Again the HVTC coordinated the parking spots well.  We had a very large area to set up all of our cars.  I have to say that the display was awesome.  We certainly had our fair chunk of land laid out well and it received a great reception from all.  It actually got us the award for best club display (not that we had set out for it or anything LOL).  I think that king Loz was almost devastated when the judges called out the Moree Torana Club as the winners as a joke. The look on his face was priceless.  Well done to all CTC members for winning the award.  Thanks to all those who helped with setting up and packing up as well as for those that  arranged the new flags and banners.  Without these people we don't get things done and these people do it time in and time out.  You all know who I mean and it does not go unrecognised!!!

From memory I think there were 276 cars on display.  From what I heard this was a record for toranafest so well done to all.  The quality of cars just keeps getting better and better.  The club actually managed to take out two trophy's.  Peter S won runner up in best LX and Brett R won runner up in best competition LH/X.  This is an absolute credit to these two guys who have always maintained their vehicles to the very highest of standards.  Well done lads, no easy feat given the quality of cars on show for the event.  It is a testament to the members of the club how they all take pride in their vehicles.

With the show out of the way and a very tired crew, Sunday nights are always about having a nice meal down at one of the local clubs and a good laugh to reflect on the weekend.  We certainly did that.  In fact don't think I have laughed so much in a long time.

Come Monday morning it was time to pack up and head home.  I think we were all a bit weary and looking forward to getting back to normality.  From what I have heard everyone made it home safely.  I would like to thank all members for making the effort again this year, 25 cars from our club in total made the trek, and a special thanks too to the interstate members. We are in a good place at the moment club wise and it is the members who make the club work.  There are too many others who need a mention for their participation in getting the event up and going, thanks to you all, you know who you are.

Looking forward to next year already.  Thanks again HVTC and Motofarm for your great efforts.  We will all be back bigger and better next year.

Cheers,

Gerry

CTC Run Coordinator

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