Octagon January, 2017

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cliff tops looking over the Head of the Great Australian Bight. There is a charge to go into this area as a lot of money has been spent on constructing the information centre, toilets, and viewing platforms. Seasonal viewing of whales is one of the main attractions here, but we were just too early for the whales. Still we enjoyed the views and appreciated the information on the area and its original inhabitants. Penong and the Nullarbor Nymph strikes Whilst waiting for Warwick to play his golf at Penong amongst the windmills (another first), I went to make some smoko. Out came the flask, the cups etc. Then I went looking for our fruit cake. I searched all through the car there was no trace of it. The only thing we can think of was that we had had it out as we were on the Nullarbor at one of the lookouts and whilst we had walked over to the lookout the Nymph had done her thing. It must have been her! It was done so quickly and cleanly. No trace – just like her. Well that is what I am putting it down to anyway. I hope she enjoyed it – almost a whole cake too! Ceduna Travelling with Juliana and Warwick proved a little bit awkward at times as when we travel by ourselves we take each day as it comes, not knowing how many kilometres we would be able to cover or what we wanted to look at sometimes. We do not necessarily pre-book our accommodation unless we know that we are definitely going to be in a place for a particular night. As Juliana and Warwick liked the idea of pre-booking we now had to make it a habit of booking ahead the night before at least. When it came to Ceduna we knew of a nice place that we had stayed at on the way over and so we tried to pre-book. We were disappointed, however, as they were 40 The Octagon - January 2017 completely booked out at the Foreshore Hotel/Motel, because over 500 bikies had descended on the town! Alternatively we pre-booked ourselves into a caravan park, with J & W into a unit and us into a tent site. When we arrived however we took one look at what was being offered, like a patch of sloping bare earth, in between a building and a caravan, about 10 square metres, with our car meant to be parked on a one way lane and said no thanks -as the caravans zoomed up the lane. We couldn’t even get our money back for some reason or other it was chaos! We just gave up and left, as there were too many people still lined up waiting to be booked in. We went back into town and asked at the Tourist Information Centre, but because of the huge influx of people, or the fact it was near closing time by this stage, the attendant just looked at us and said there was no more accommodation! Very helpful! Suddenly I remembered that I had seen an advertisement on our map for a Motel out near the airport so I rang them. They had heaps of accommodation! We drove out, booked in and ended up with the biggest, quietest, Motel room, with safe parking, you could imagine. It also had cooking facilities and was the cheapest yet! It is hard to fathom at times isn’t it. We had two days there as we wanted a lay day again. I think the attendant at the Tourist Information Centre was just overwhelmed. In the long run it was serendipity that we ended up at this motel as the next day we met up with some friends who were heading west from our own street where we live. It is a small world isn’t it. At Ceduna Warwick played his last hole of golf of the Worlds Longest Golf Course. He handed his score card into the Tourist Information Centre where it was duly stamped and he was given a certificate for his achievement. Well done. At this point we had now officially crossed the Nullarbor from West to East. Stay tuned for the next part of our adventure as we shepherd the Kiwis across the rest of South Australia and New South Wales. The fun continues.
CHAPTER Chatter Darling Downs Chapter by Gary Lawrence So another MG year has come to an end and I sit here contemplating the year that was. Once again, our Chapter had a busy year with members participating in a variety of events including our regular social mid-week and monthly runs, local car displays such as Crows Nest Lions, David Hack Day and Warwick’s Jumpers and Jazz Festival. We have enjoyed a number of very interesting monthly runs with some of the standouts being the Clifton Olde Time Movie run, a visit to Crofters Craft in Crows Nest which is an artisan cottage industry producing unique utensils from cattle horn and pewter, the Lakes of the Lockyer Tour and an observation run to the Army Flying Museum in Oakey. Our annual May overnight was very popular. This year it morphed into a two night event taking us into northern NSW to Tenterfield and the beautiful Granite Belt in the Stanthorpe environs. An annual long tour is somewhat of a tradition in our chapter. This year it was planned as a ten day run to Mackay to coincide with the MGCCQ state meeting in August. Unfortunately due to many of our regular long run participants having other commitments the planned contingent of MGs did not materialize. Not to be outdone a couple of our members took the opportunity to turn it into a caravan trip, attending the Combined Chapters meeting at Mackay. We continue to see a regular core of participants in our events with other members joining us on an adhoc basis when personal and work commitments permit. We have welcomed a number of new members over the past year. Bob Marsh (Warwick convener), Ron & Judy Gillis (mid-week run conveners) and Gary Lawrence (Chapter Coordinator) will continue in these roles for 2017. Glen Hadfield has volunteered to assist me with the Coordinator role this year as I will be ‘disappearing’ for extended periods, living the dream as I tour around Oz. The 2017 Event Calendar is available on the MGCCQ web site. One of the highlights will be our May overnight run to Stradbroke Island. I am sure a lineup of MGs on the car ferry will attract plenty of attention. It is gratifying to see a number of our members volunteering again this year to convene the monthly runs. Our 2017 MG year will kick off with a mid-week lunch run on 8 February; till then, all the best for a great Christmas and a Happy New Year. Lunch Run 09 November After an aborted attempt to visit Rudd’s Pub in October, our November run proved The Octagon - January 2017 41
Page 1 and 2: Official Journal of the MG Car Club
Page 3 and 4: President’s Report Welcome to the
Page 5 and 6: Notice Board The Clubrooms are open
Page 7 and 8: HSSCCQ MOTORKHANA EVENTS MARKED (P)
Page 9 and 10: Bits’n’Pieces This photo was ta
Page 11 and 12: IF ONLY! by Graham Hepburn, Cairns
Page 13 and 14: Stories from the Stables 1970 FORD
Page 15 and 16: consider that it was painted in our
Page 17 and 18: 2017 MG NATIONAL MEETING SOUTH AUST
Page 19 and 20: its original packing each tell a st
Page 21 and 22: The Octagon - January 2017 21
Page 25 and 26: ph strikes again! Meeting in Perth,
Page 29 and 30: discovery in this area. This more o
Page 31 and 32: MGCCQ 2016 Calendar Affiliated with
Page 33 and 34: 20/21 Sat/Sun CAMS State Championsh
Page 35 and 36: Norseman Our visit here on the way
Page 37 and 38: campers’ kitchen, where we chose
Page 39: Warwick had played golf on a rifle
Page 43 and 44: that persistence pays as we enjoyed
Page 45 and 46: chair to extricate a child with leg
Page 47 and 48: Friday 2nd December 2016 - Christma
Page 51 and 52: CHAPTER Chatter Far North Queenslan
Page 53 and 54: CHAPTER Chatter Wide Bay Chapter by
Page 55 and 56: country roads giving us vistas of r
Page 57 and 58: & Queen. Thank you to all involved
Page 59 and 60: Outright 1st 2nd 3rd Best Racing Ca
Page 61 and 62: Karly Buccini Ken Graham Daniel Zei

Octagon January, 2017

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