THE REGISTRY OF EX-MILITARY LAND-ROVERS recently enjoyed THE 2003 'R & R' New South Wales
Military vehicle enthusiasts were invited to enjoy a fundraising weekend touring the lower Hunter Valley - this year's event was NOT at the Stockton Bight as per the first two 'R & R' events. REMLR members who went to Corowa in March discussed the 2003 'R & R' and kicked around a few new ideas. In the end the decision was made to vary the location this year and tour some historic military locations around the valley.
Also, last year the convoy was thought to be way too short. And talking time wasn't long enough either. The convoy aspect of being on 'R & R' had been much under-rated it seems and this year's event had plenty of time for talking and 'show 'n shining'.
Here are the members who enjoyed this year's 'R & R'...
On Saturday morning REMLR convoyed around various military and ex-military sites including the relics at the Greta Army Camp and later the RAR Infantry museum at Singleton Army base. The drivers and all adult passengers needed a 'photo-licence type' I.D. card to get on the base... and from there we convoyed around looking at the sights. The museum was a highlight and very interesting. The 106mm RCL was on display but not the gunbuggy that usually carries it (the vehicle was getting some attention it seems). Many of the museum exhibits were won in close-quarter battles and some were weighty indeed, making you wonder how the items were man-handled in the field. We then had some lunch in the carpark and watched all the kangaroos that were 'on base' in force (after all, this was 'Skippy badge' territory - Infantry School). We had a look at the firing range -with its Centurian Tank standing guard out the front- on the way out to Broke.
After more convoy driving we set up camp and got ready for a good night at a grassy camping ground at Broke, near Pokolbin (Macnamurra Park). We had a BBQ and later on we once again enjoyed Dave T's 'Peach Cobbler' around the camp fire under a starry sky.
REMLR was ready for 'inspection' by 9am Sunday at the Broke Country Fair and associated 'Car Club Appreciation Day'. It turned out that we chose a great location, as we were looked at by a lot of people - ex-mil gear is always a crowd favorite. This is a big car club event and, as usual, there were people and cars of every origin everywhere... we met a few ex-mil characters and on one occasion, while we sat in the shade (welcome shade too around the middle of the day) under a cam net strung up on posts, a local Pipe & Drums Band marched up and played in a circle a few metres away. Terrific! After the showground activities finished the crowd started thinning out at about 2-3pm and we decided to call it a day. REMLR members travelled safely homeward via Dennis' home. At Dennis' place we had another cuppa and more chats as well as helping tarp up Dennis' Landy collection.
As per other 'R & R' events, a $30 per vehicle donation was coerced from drivers at the main event on Saturday morning by REMLR on behalf of Legacy.
And as per other 'R & R' events to date, the skies were clear and bright all weekend, the night wasn't too cold at all. But there were occasional strong winds. Some fluffy clouds were around but they never looked the type to gang up and make things damp and miserable. The weather the day before the 'R & R' weekend had looked like things were going to be very wet and foul, but on the Friday night it blew away...
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REMLR
MEMBERS OF QUEENSLAND ON 'R & R' AS WELL |