esCarpade Day 0 - Scrutineering and Welcome Dinner

The boys woke up early in the morning... after having coffee, they decided to go for a bit of a wander around downtown Lismore...

They stumbled across the back alley gallery.

This old phone booth was a free book exchange.

Apparently the boys are here!

A very old belltower on the old post/telegraph building.

The river is way down there... it's astounding how much water must have gone through Lismore during the floods...

Hoges was impressed by this tree...

So many buildings still under renovation...

Once the time had arrived for scrutineering the boys lined up...

After getting ticked off at scrutineering, Retro Rock-It had a quick bath, fuel up, checked the fluids and was put to bed for the rest of the day...

Time for some snacks and a quiet drink before dinner...

Pretty much taking over the motel...

esCarpade cars...

As far as the eye can see...

Even out the back!

Time for the driver briefing...

This blurry photo says there are 53 entrant cars, 14 official vehicles and 168 people on esCarpade this year!  The cars will travel through 31 towns, and coincidentally it's the 31st year of esCarpade!

Lined up waiting for dinner!

Lismore Heights bowling club has a nice view out the window!

And shimmy, shimmy!

Damian and Hoges with the CQ frame...

Selfie!

The wait is almost over... one more sleep until the boys will have the first day of driving for esCarpade 2023.

And the fundraising total has continued to sneak along, now sitting at $16501.. It's not too late to donate if you want to help the boys reach even higher!

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2022 esCarpade Day 0 - Welcome Dinner

Day 0, and once scrutineering was done and dusted, and a bunch of others had turned up and caught up, it was time for the boys to head to the welcome dinner...

Past the slightly inaccurate clock...

And the old Court House...

And into the driver briefing.

Hanging out with Johnny from Car 50...

Always time for crazy selfies!

And the puppeteers leading the esCarpade song... es-Car-pade... es es-Car-pade!!

Jason, Johnny and Damian...

Some event statistics... looks like this year the overall kilometres travelled will be shorter than previous years, but with a plan to arrive at the overnight destinations earlier in the day...

The crowd behind Damo...

Good tips for rookie navigators... tip 1 - do not fall asleep!

Jason was paying attention, for sure...

Sample route notes, with some tips on how to keep tabs on where you are...

And once the formalities were over...

It was time to catch up with Damian's good friend Giggle!

While the puppets ran amok as always...

Bill trying to kiss... err.. Damian?  Or Carmel in a Bill and Damo sandwich, while Damo offers some canapes!

Welcome Dinner... 30th anniversary of the Camp Quality esCarpade!

Sitting at the table with these legends...

Boss of Camp Quality Deb Thomas speaking...

Followed by the Chairman Kym Jacob...

Selfie time!

Tony inspecting his beer...

Since the 2019 esCarpade, five esCarpadians have sadly passed away... 

Remembering Tony Draybi...

Darren Redsell...

Cliff Kenney...

Charlie Watt...

And Earl Tanks.

Five champions in their own right, each missed by their loved ones and the esCarpade family.

Charlie's daughter Emily spoke to the esCarpadians...

Before opening Charlie's Bar to shout everyone a beer on behalf of Charlie.

Nurse Emma grabbed a beer courtesy of Charlie...

Before demonstrating the caring side of her nursing by playfully smacking Tony on the knee... forgetting that he had recently had surgery on it!

So that's Day 0 done and dusted... After a good night's sleep (with an extra hour due to the end of daylight saving time in NSW), it will be time for the first day of driving!

If you are in Albury or surrounding areas and would like to catch up with the esCarpadians and/or watch them leave from Albury, the entrants will be at the Hovell Tree Park in Albury between 7am and 8am on Sunday 3 April 2022.

See you all there!

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