Saturday 23 November 2019

2019 Camp Quality South Queensland Christmas Party

The 2019 Camp Quality South Queensland Christmas Party had arrived, and as per usual, Damian would be MC'ing the day... Retro Rock-It came out of the shed for a drive over to Bribie Island...


Shiny!!


And who doesn't like the back view?


Parked at Bribie Island, waiting for the families and volunteers to arrive.


Damian performing MC duties...


The crowd seemed a bit smaller than previous years...


The setup was a bit different also, with the gazebos lined up along the edge instead of across the middle near the stage...


The highlight of the day, as always, was the annual firies vs Camp Quality water fight...  One year Camp Quality should bring some hoses too!!


Splish splash!!


Naturally there were heaps of cool things for the kids to do...


Families having fun...


It was a glorious day...


The ladies and gents from the Wallum Action Group, who again made a substantial donation to Camp Quality!


Lining up waiting to see Santa...


Damian and his ever-patient wife Tricia (who took most of the photos for this blog).


And of course, no trip to the Christmas Party is complete without seeing Santa!


Retro Rock-It was back in the shed, a bit blurry... Damian was feeling a bit blurry by the end of the day also!


Thanks to the various Lions and Lioness Clubs from around the area who as always put on a fantastic day for the Camp Quality families and volunteers.

Monday 28 October 2019

2019 esCarpade Statistics

For those of you who like numbers, or are just curious about the costs of attending esCarpade (which are met by the entrants themselves - this has nothing to do with the fundraising), check out the following!

Fuel
Total Used - 747.23 litres
Total Cost - $1107.85

Lowest Price - $1.377 (Burpengary), with Goondiwindi and Mt Gambier only 1c more expensive...
Average Price - $1.483
Highest Price - $1.669 (Coonabarrabran), with Burpengary after arriving home 1c less expensive...

Average L/100km - 12.4

Distance
Total travelled - 5682km

Accommodation
Nights - 10
Total Cost - $1328

Lowest Price - $81 (Renmark)
Average Price - $133
Highest Price - $178 (Echuca)

Fundraising
Retro Rock-It raised a record total of $15017.20!


Sunday 27 October 2019

2019 esCarpade Day 8 - Echuca to Morayfield

The 2019 Camp Quality esCarpade had come to a close, and the boys had a plan - don't set the alarm, but when they woke up, it was time to hit the road...  Turns out they were both awake at 4am...


It was still dark...


But they were on the road at 4:30am, heading towards Queensland.


Foiled!!  A red light at a roadworks, with not another car in sight...


Woot!  Green means go!!



The sun was starting to rise...







Looked like it was going to be a glorious day, even though the outside temperatured was still hovering around 4C...  Thankfully the heater was working well in Retro Rock-It!








Heading up the Newell Highway...




Damian took the first driving shift...


















Onto dirt... grade 1 caution!






More roadworks, of course...


Into Forbes...







Past the "Spirit of Parkes" train...




Into sunny, downtown Dubbo!!


Again, past the muster point for the parade into town in 2018...


After a fuel stop, it was time for Angus to have a turn behind the wheel!


And straight into more roadworks...



Past some cool sports cars...









Doing the right thing through roadworks, and being rewarded with a happy sign!











Into Coonabarabran...





Into Narrabri for a quick break and a coffee...


Before pushing on...


Wide load!



Another wide load... must have been the day for it!





This crashed/broken taxi on the trailer has a sign on the back that says "Is this taxi your Plan B?"... err... nope... it's not!


Roadworks with an amber light... the boys had now had the full set!



And through Moree...  At this point, the boys noted there was still over three hours before sunset, so they decided to keep going.







Another roadworks, another happy sign!







Past the Wobbly Boot Hotel...



And yet more roadworks, with a VERY happy sign!!



Crossing back into Queensland...





And stopped for a refuel - both of Retro Rock-It and the boys...


Since they were both feeling fine, had shared the driving, had a nice rest and a feed in Goondiwindi and there was still another couple of hours of daylight, they decided to press on for home!



The shadows started getting longer...



Thankfully the sun was behind them!




And then, sunset was upon them... and they were in Milmerran - just a few hours from home.


Damian took the night driving shift..


Delivering Angus safely home...


Before heading to his house, locking Retro Rock-It in the shed and going to see his family... and of course, Merlin (the border collie) who was happiest of all to see Damian!


Time for a well-earned sleep... the trip home had been just on 18 hours, including rest stops and fuel stops.

Stay tuned for a summary of stats in the coming days (because you know you love that kind of thing)!