esCarpade 2017 - Day 8 - Drive Home from Toowoomba

The boys woke up bright and early in Toowoomba, and with just a 2 hour drive home, they were keen to hit the road...

The sun was bright...

Quick stop at Maccas for a coffee...

Then on the road!!

Heading down the range...

Behind a nice XM...

Oh... an XM Coupe!!

And on the open road...

Minor diversion here... tank on a low loader, with the road blocked off further up the road...  Perhaps a mishap with another tank?

At the exit...

Adam safely delivered home...

On Damian's street...

And at the front gate, ready to surprise his family with an early arrival!!

One of the shortest trips home from esCarpade ever...  A good run was had with Retro Rock-It... Damian has a few things to sort out before next year's event, but all in all, it was a good trip.

Thanks to all the supporters, readers of the blog and people who donated to Camp Quality to help Retro Rock-It achieve the fantastic result that was achieved.

Bigger and better next year!!

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esCarpade 2017 - Day 7 - Dinner and Awards Night

The 2017 esCarpade final dinner and awards night was set down to be in the Cathedral Centre...  Google lied to the boys about the exact location, but they found the Cathedral...

And the centre was right next door!!

Posing with Giggle for a photo...

Rock and Roll!!

The crowd found their seats...

Adam looked less than enthused, while Damian was stoked to have a glass of Shiraz!!

Susan doing some official speechiness...

The boys received their thank you certificates for raising $8340.01!!

Graham aka Bender, and Dylan from Car 808 (Purple People Eater)...

Kylea Tink, the CEO of Camp Quality got up to do a speech...

It was emotional, but good...

And then the fundraising total as at 28 October was announced - $1,225,854!!  The top fundraising team contributed over $348000, and there was a late donation of $20K to add to their total (and the overall total) on top of this!!

And last but not least, the 2018 esCarpade route was announced...  Bathurst to Goulburn, via Lightning Ridge...  The boys had better get used to the idea of a long trip both to and from esCarpade in 2018!!

With all said and done, all that was left was for everyone to say their good byes and drift off into the night...  With a two hour drive to get home in the morning, the boys were happy that (for once) they were one of the teams with a very short drive!!  2018 will be a very different matter...

Thanks for all the messages of support and to all the regular readers of the blog...  Retro Rock-It should be back in 2018 bigger and better than ever!!

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esCarpade 2017 - Day 7 - Kingaroy to Crows Nest to Toowoomba

Waking up from the night before in Kingaroy, the boys went to check on Retro Rock-It... yep, still there.

The rear suspension had clearly failed...

Low, low, low, low...

Heading off to breakfast, there was a plan coming in to land...

Into the Kingaroy Vintage Machinery Club...

Parked, looking the goods...

Although this was looking the goods even more!!

Someone was taking pictures with their drone (quad copter, apparently).

Here's a car the same model as Retro Rock-It... check out the ride height.

Significantly higher...  New springs were recently fitted to this one...

Lining up ready for the group photo...

Lots of people and cars!!

And heading out onto the road for the last driving day of esCarpade 2017...

Bitumen and dirt would be the order of the day again...

Through downtown Nanango...

Some parts of this track were very deeply rutted...

This image courtesy of Ange (Cat Woman)...

A water crossing!!

Splash!!

Through Linville...

Through Moore...

Heading up towards Blackbutt...

And back onto dirt...

More ruts...

And a peacock...  Best we don't run that over!!

This section had a number of very nasty gutters running across the road...

More gutters...

Stopped for a photo opportunity...

Johnny from Car 50!!

Obligatory selfie...

Traffic hazard...  Someone carelessly left some huge rocks on the road!!

Back onto bitumen for the final run into Crows Nest for lunch...

Parked up, ready for a feed...

The lunchtime crowd waiting for the driver briefing...

Ben doing his thing...

Drivers, start your engines!!

Heading out after lunch for a short 90km drive to Toowoomba, for the grand finale...

Adam having a turn driving... Damian's selfies are heaps worse from this side...

Across the dam wall...

And over the spillway...

Damian keeping tabs on the route notes...

And even some dirt for Adam in the arvo!!

Great views from up the top of the range...

Surprisingly dry and dusty given the amount of rain recently...

Back onto bitumen for the run to Toowoomba...

Through Helidon...

And left into Scotty's Barn, to form up for the grand parade...

Some interesting bits and pieces to see...  No time to look through the shed though...

Heading out towards Toowoomba...

Poor car 4 ran out of fuel on the way up the hill - about 10km from the end of the esCarpade course...

Kermit just waiting...

Toowoomba City!!

Past OKA, waiting for the parade to go by before taking his traditional position at the rear of the field...

Through town... at this point, a particularly zealous motorcycle police officer rode up the line of cars with their lights flashing (for the parade through the main street and to the waiting Camp Quality families) barking "TURN THEM OFF" and pointing at the drivers with their lights on...  Now the boys understand that he has a job to do, but it was a pretty poor showing given the tremendous support they usually receive from the various emergency services...

Pulled over for a final change to route notes to allow cars to get into the school meeting point easier...

And away!!

Turning into the school...

Lined up...

Let the water fight begin!!

Damian is saturated, and being shot from behind in this action selfie...

Wet people and water carnage!!

Families having fun at the CQ family fun day...

Not sure who was more excited - the kids, or the esCarpadians!!

And that brought to an end the final day of driving of the 2017 Camp Quality esCarpade...  Retro Rock-It had come through relatively unscathed (apart from some dents and scrapes underneath from the rocks, and some damage to the exhaust), and Damian is already compiling a list of tasks to prepare the car for next year!!

All that remains now is the farewell dinner, and to drive home.

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