Nambucca 2004 - the 20th Anniversary Show, and supposed to be the last one ever, or so we were told before the event.

A small band of VW club members made the 5 hour journey to Valla Park Resort on the evening of Friday the 30th of July.  Apart from some agro truckies that we encountered North of Grafton, everything went smoothly and we all arrived at around 11:00pm.

The Saturday morning is taken up with a short cruise to the nearby town of Nambucca Heads, where we all park in the main street for a couple of hours and take the time to wander through the cars and shops that line the main street.

At midday we returned to Valla Park Resort (the campground and show location) where we took the rest of the afternoon to wander through the swapmeet and trade stall areas, as well as take the time to catch up with old friends (and make new ones!)

Saturday night saw us standing around our campfire (a washing machine with the outer case stripped off it!), talking VW's and watching DVD and Videos (yep - we were doing the camping thing the hard way!)

Sunday morning arrived, and those with cars pretty enough to be shown lined up to be judged, whilst the rest of us searched the swap and trade stalls again for that bit we missed the day before.  Once the cars were all in the show area, we wandered amongst them, taking photos and admiring the owners handywork (or the handywork of those the owner paid!).  Either way, there were some very impressive vehicles parked on the grass.

The trophy presentation was held mid afternoon and the 'best' cars were awarded the very fancy looking trophies.  (the show was judged by 'professional' judges, so I use the term 'best' very loosly - best in someone elses opinion would be a good way to look at it - feel free to Email me if you have a problem with this statement.).  It was also announced that the show would not be the last one, but it will be run by someone else in the future.

A thunderstorm came over us just as darkness fell, however there was no rain, and I feel that it actually improved the fireworks that were supposed to symbolise the end of the VW spectacular shows.  Some of the crowd helped out by setting off bungers and mortars which made more noise than the fireworks!  This crowd is always good for a laugh!

After dinner we gathered around our campfire again, and during the discussion, we all made a promise - we would all be driving a different car to the next VW spectacular in 2006, or in other words, our projects must be finished and driven to the 2006 event.  I've got some work to do!

On Monday we all packed up and made for home.  Some of the group that I travelled down with decided to stop in Coffs Harbour to check out an early Type III Notch that they had seen on the Sunday (with a for sale sign on it).  I decided to keep going, and managed to pass many of the other participants of the show.  Most of them too frightened to do the 100km/h speed limit due to overheating issues!!?!? (time for a tune up I think people!).  If my '63, complete with 1200cc engine, loaded to the point where I couldn't see out the back window, two people and a heap of camping gear can do the speed limit, there is something wrong with your car if you can't keep up!

Happily, I am able to report that there were no mechanical failures amongst our group, with the exception of a generator that wouldn't charge in the Notch (the one from Coffs Harbour - yep - it followed them home!). From what I understand, there were very few problems amongst any of the participants.

I'll see you there in 2006 - in my finished project!

Finally, one last thing - quote of the weekend: "...damn fruit eating Pandas!" - Don't know what I am talking about?  You should have been there!

Click on the pics below for larger images...

Back to main Pictures Page