Octagon January, 2016

With our normal meticulous planning , both
groups arrived at the lunch destination within
minutes of each other and quickly settled in. In
spite of a kitchen mixup which saw a couple of
meals lost, overall it was a good time. Then
came the drive home ...
The Bundy Crew left just before 2 pm, drove
through the farm field areas and arrived in
Bundaberg just after 3:00. That was the easy bit.
The Hervey Bay Mob though had to head in the
opposite direction, straight towards rolling black
and green clouds, sheet lightning and torrential,
waterfall like rain. While experiences varied,
for some it was approaching that horrible point
where the wipers couldn’t cope, you couldn’t see,
there was nowhere to pull over and it was far
too dangerous to stop. And then the downpour
stopped, as quickly as it had started.
Overall, an interesting outing for the 38 people
who were brave enough to attend in their 21 cars
... a good rollup!
25 November
Throughout this year the Hervey Bay Mob has
been tracking the progress of our local cane
industry, using some of its runs to check on the
planting, growing and eventual harvesting. This
run, headed by Paul Overton, went out to smell
the sweet success of the harvest.
Travelling the routes taken by many an exuberant
cyclist in the far too early hours, 18 cars with 27
people drove out behind Hervey Bay to inspect
the harvested cane fields and look for new shoots
emerging for the next season.
At this stage I should point out that the Wide
Bay Chapter has a very strict policy of not
disclosing identities when something untoward
happens. And as you no doubt know, some of
our cars (Mazdas and Peugeots for example)
have automatic roofs which silently glide closed
on very hot days so we can enjoy the benefits
of cool, refreshing air conditioning. Let’s just
say that one such car had a slight, intermittent
malfunction. With its roof half closed (or open
for the optimists out there) it just stopped, giving
a good impression of an air brake on a Bugatti
Veyron. So while the remainder of the group
moved on it had to remain where it was, along
with the valued assistance of our Chapter’s
dedicated Air Brake Malfunction Crew.
The rest of the Mob then eventually paraded
our other fine machines along the Esplanade
to the “Homemade Café” (and yes the food is
homemade) where we all enjoyed a value packed
morning tea while once again solving the world’s
problems.
29 November
It was time for the Hervey Bay Mob to again swan
along the Esplanade to our last Fish ‘n’ Chips get
together for 2015 at Urangan. The weather was
good so we met at our normal rendezvous (the
All Abilities Playground car park) for a 5.00 pm
departure to the Urangan Pier.
The 18 folks who attended in 7 different makes
of cars ate well, talked much and then quickly
headed off before the low flying target bombers
(fruit bats) started to appear overhead.
6 December
Just before Christmas descended upon us with
our parties and shopping, the Hervey Bay Mob
ran a twilight drive out to Burrum Heads for
an evening BBQ. Twelve cars and 19 people
turned up for this one, following the somewhat
convoluted start instructions which in part said “ ...
this earlier start is late enough to avoid the worst
of the heat but still be late enough for an early
dinner ...”.
Those who attended included visitors Deb and
Tony Slattery on one of their many sojourns north
to visit Ellen Wilson. And the list of cars made
for interesting reading with an SA, Y type, A, Bs
and Fs (sorry, and tFs). I’m still scratching my
head though at the entry on the Attendance Sheet
which simply said “Very big yellow van and long
trailer”.
13 December - Christmas Parties
Just check out the happy snaps on the Web site.
The Bundy Crew held theirs at Penny Lane
Gardens with 23 happy , hungry folk attending for
The Octagon - November 2015 41